DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Toby Fournier scored 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting and Duke kept its momentum going with an 81-64 victory over the College of Charleston in the first round of March Madness on Friday.
Jordan Wood scored 17 points and Delaney Thomas had 19 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-5 3-point shooting for the third-seeded Blue Devils (25-8), which hosted first- and second-round games at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the second consecutive year.
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Since a 3-6 start, Duke has gone 22-2, including a second straight ACC tournament title.
Fournier is a 6-foot-2 sophomore forward who was selected to the third team in the United States and is the main force in the interior both offensively and defensively. On one play in the second quarter, she completed a beautiful reverse layup and fast-break layup while guarded by Teja Binns.
Charleston (27-6) couldn’t overcome a 26 percent shooting performance in its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Junior guard Taryn Barbot led the 14th-seeded Cougars in scoring with 36 points, her most this season against Duke, and made 14 of 16 free throws. Twin sister Taylor Barbot scored 13 points and Beans scored 11 points.
Next
Duke will face the winner of the game between sixth-seeded Baylor and 11th-seeded Nebraska on Friday afternoon.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
