Barbot twins lead Charleston past Hofstra, to NCAA tourney berth

WASHINGTON — Taryn Barbot scored 23 points, twin sister Taylor Barbot added 16, and top-seeded Charleston defeated 10th-seeded Hofstra 68-56 on Sunday to win the Coastal Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament and reach March Madness for the first time.

The Cougars held each of their three opponents in the tournament under 60 points.

Grace Ezebilo scored 10 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Cougars (27-5) and Taryn Barbot hit four 3-pointers, as did Jami Hill, who finished with 14 points. Taylor Barbot had eight assists and four rebounds.

Emma Von Essen scored 13 points off the bench, while Chloe Sterling had 12, Alarice Gooden 11 and Nevaeh Brown 10 for Hofstra (11-22). Sandra Magolico collected 10 rebounds.

An 11-0 run toward the end of the first quarter helped Charleston take an 18-11 lead into the second quarter. Hofstra stormed back in the second quarter and outscored Charleston 22-12 for a 33-30 lead at halftime.

Charleston’s 14-0 run to open the second half included 10 points in a row from the Barbot sisters. The Cougars outscored Hofstra 21-7 in the third quarter and led 51-40 heading to the fourth.

Taryn Barbot scored seven points in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, and the Cougars pushed their lead to 63-46. Hofstra hit a couple of 3-pointers in an 8-0 run to get within 63-54 with about three minutes remaining, but the Pride would get no closer.