Toby Fournier scores 24, Duke women beat Charleston 81-64 in 1st round of NCAA Tournament

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Toby Fournier scored 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting and Duke maintained its momentum by opening the first round of March Madness with an 81-64 victory over the College of Charleston on Friday.

Jordan Wood had 17 points on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and Delaney Thomas had 19 points and nine rebounds for the third-seeded Blue Devils (25-8), who are a host of the first and second rounds for the second consecutive year at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Since a 3-6 start, Duke is on a 22-2 run that includes their second ACC Tournament championship in a row.

Fournier, a 6-2 sophomore forward who was a third-team All America selection, was a force inside on offense and defense. During one second-quarter sequence, she sandwiched a nifty reverse lay-in and fast-break layup around a block of Tyja Beans.

Charleston (27-6) was unable to overcome a 26% shooting performance in its first NCAA Tournament appearance. Junior guard Taryn Barbot led the 14th-seeded Cougars with 36 points (the most scored against Duke this season) and made 14 of 16 free throws. Twin sister Taylor Barbot had 13 points, and Beans chipped in 11 points.

Up next

Duke will play the winner of Friday afternoon’s game between sixth-seeded Baylor and 11th-seeded Nebraska.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness