WILMINGTON, N.C. –  After opening the game shooting 72% from the field, the College of Charleston women's basketball team shooting went cold as they fell 71-49 in the Colonial Athletic Association opener to UNCW on Friday morning.

Darien Huff hit the first points of the conference season for Charleston (4-8, 0-1) with a three in-front of the Seahawks (8-4, 1-0) bench. UNCW jumping into a 9-3 lead in-front of 4,511 fans after forcing three Charleston turnovers in the opening two minutes of the game.

Tyler Collins checked in and hit a three with her first shot of the game, Charleston making four straight baskets to cut the Seahawks lead to 14-11.

A 6-0 run from the Cougars leveled the game up at 19-19, Deja Ford hitting a jumper to tie it.

Over the scoring run the Charleston defense forced four turnovers with Madison Taylor grabbing a board and put-back to give CofC their first and only lead of the game at 21-19.

Charleston shot 72% in the first quarter, going 3-4 from deep, but UNCW opened the second quarter on a 8-0 run, Collins eventually stopping the Charleston drought with a jumper.

The shooting struggles continued for Charleston deep into the second, UNCW holding a 39-25 lead at the break.

Baileigh Larson provided a spark from the bench in the third, grabbing six quick points, the last a tough spinning jumper in the paint as Charleston looked to build momentum. Arynn Eady also contributing from the bench by scoring a joint career-high nine points after going a perfect 3-3 from the field.

The Cougars defense improved into the fourth, forcing the Seahawks to shoot 1-8 in the opening six minutes of the period, but foul trouble kept UCNW in a double-digit lead.
 
Charleston's shooting struggles continued with Larson and Huff making the only baskets from the field through the final ten minutes.

With the 71-49 loss, Charleston moves to 4-8 (0-1 CAA) on the season and will now take the week off before a CAA road swing at Elon on Jan. 11 and William & Mary on Jan. 13.

Notables
• Darien Huff hit a three for the 18^th consecutive game; her streak dates back to the 2017-18 season.
• Arynn Eady scored a joint career-high 9 points from the bench to lead all Charleston scorers (3-3 FG)
• Charleston started with a lineup of Madison Taylor, Latrice Perkins, Darien Huff, Bri Sullivan and Deja Ford for the first time this season (0-1).
• Charleston shot 72% through the opening quarter, eventually finishing the game at 36%.