College of Charleston
27-5,16-2CAA
No. 10 Hofstra
11-22,6-12CAA
Charleston Women's Basketball Wins CAA Tournament; Earns Automatic Bid to NCAA Tournament
3/15/2026 6:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The College of Charleston women's basketball team (27-5, 16-2) pulled away in the third quarter as the Cougars defeated Hofstra (11-22, 6-12) by a final of 68-56 in the Credit Union 1 CAA Women's Basketball Championship game at CareFirst Arena on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, Charleston earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will play in the first round on either Friday, March 20 or Saturday, March 21. The Cougars will find out their opponent and where they will be traveling for the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament during the NCAA Selection Show at 8 p.m. tonight. The show will be broadcast on ESPN.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Hofstra hit a three to take an 8-7 lead, but Taryn Barbot hit two triples and Charleston closed the quarter on an 11-3 run to take a seven point advantage (18-11) into the second quarter.
- After Taylor Barbot hit a mid-range jumper to open the second, Hofstra scored the games' next nine points and outscored the Cougars 22-10 in the rest of the period as the Pride took a 33-30 edge into the break.
- Taryn Barbot scored six early third quarter points as Charleston scored the first 14 points of the third to take a 44-33 advantage at the media timeout.
- The Cougars and Pride traded buckets for the rest of the period and CofC took a 51-40 lead into the last 10 minutes.
- Jami Hill drilled a corner three to put the Cougars in front 60-44 as she forced a Hofstra timeout with 6:56 left in the game.
- Hofstra cut the Cougars lead to nine, but another Jami Hill three extended CofC's lead back to 12 (66-54) with 2:50 left to play.
- From there, the Cougars never allowed the Pride to get within 10, and Charleston defeated Hofstra 68-56 to win the CAA Championship and earn and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
LEADING COUGARS
- Junior Taryn Barbot added a game-high 23 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists. She also hit four triples against the Pride.
- Junior Taylor Barbot recorded 16 points, eight assists and three steals.
- Junior Jami Hill tallied 14 points and hit four threes.
- Junior Grace Ezebilo recorded her ninth double-double of the year with her 10 point, 16 rebound performance. Sunday was her 24th double-digit rebounding game of the 2025-26 season.
KEY STATS
- The Cougars forced 13 Hofstra turnovers.
- Charleston outrebounded Hofstra 42-34.
- The Cougars outscored the Pride 21-7 in the third quarter to take control of the game.
- Four different Cougars scored in double figures.
- CofC scored 12 second chance points compared to the Pride's four.
OF NOTE
- Taryn Barbot was named the CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Performer and made the All-Tournament Team. Taylor Barbot and Grace Ezebilo also earned spots on the All-Tournament Team.
- Charleston is the first No. 1 seed since 2017 to win the CAA Championship.
- The 2026 NCAA Tournament will be the College of Charleston women's basketball team's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
- The 2026 NCAA Tournament will be the Cougars' eighth postseason tournament appearance in Charleston's D1 era. CofC previously made the Women's Basketball Invitational on five different occasions and competed in the WNIT the last two seasons.
- The Cougars will be the only team in the 68 team field who will be competing in their first NCAA Tournament.
- Taryn Barbot scored her 1,679th career point as a Cougar and became the all-time Division I scoring leader in Charleston program history. She's also fourth on Charleston's all-time scoring list in all it's history.
- Grace Ezebilo recorded her 153rd offensive rebound of the season and set the new program record for most offensive rebounds in a single season.
- The Cougars earned their 27th win today. The 27 wins are a new Division I program record.
- Charleston is now 14-9 all-time against Hofstra.
QUOTABLES
- I'm extremely proud and happy for our kids, Head Coach Robin Harmony said. Our staff and our players worked extremely hard all year long, and to see everything come together and for us to win two championships is an amazing feeling. We got the job done today and we're not done yet. We want more.
UP NEXT — The NCAA Tournament selection show is at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 15. The Cougars will find out their opponent and where they will be traveling for the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament later tonight. The selection show can be watched on ESPN. The NCAA Tournament first round will be held on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21. When available, CofC's first round opponent and game time can be found on the Charleston women's basketball schedule page at cofcsports.com.
For complete coverage of Charleston women's basketball, follow us on X (@CofCWBB) and Instagram (@CofCWBB).
