GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Jade Hughes scored 16 points and helped key a strong second half surge to propel the College of Charleston to a 64-53 victory over Furman in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Tuesday evening on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.

Hughes, a junior guard from Spartanburg, found the mark on 3-of-6 3-pointers, highlighting an 8-of-16 team shooting effort from beyond the arc, that helped the Cougars (17-5, 10-4 SoCon) to their ninth consecutive victory.

The loss was the sixth straight the Paladins (10-13, 4-10 SoCon), who got 16 points from Lee Stephens and a career high eight assists from Melissa Liebschwager.

The College of Charleston trailed by six points with seven an half minutes left in the game but turned to full court pressure to spark an 18-0 run to take control of the contest.

After Kelly O’Connor connected on a jump shot to put Furman ahead, 45-39, with 7:25 remaining, the Cougars’ press netted a pair of turnovers that led to bucket by Ericka Williams and a Brooke Kotcella free throw that sliced the Furman lead to 45-42.

Kotcella then drained a 3-pointer to tie the game with 5:48 to go, and Sarah Moye converted a pass from Moye for an easy layup to put College of Charleston ahead, 47-45, with 5:09 left.

The Cougars continued their decisive run with another 10 unanswered points, highlighted by two layups and a 3-pointer by Hughes.  A free throw by Tonia Gerty capped the 18-0 outburst and gave CofC a 57-45 lead with 1:16 left before Stephens finally broke the six-minute Furman drought with a basket at the 1:05 mark.

Aiding College of Charleston’s victory was strong rebounding as the Cougars claimed a 42-29 margin on the glass, including a 21-11 advantage in offensive boards. Moye led the way with nine rebounds followed by Deidra Jones’ eight caroms.

The College of Charleston also forged an advantage at the free throw line, making good on 16-of-25 opportunities while Fuirman drained just 5-of-6 shots from the stripe.

Gerty was the only other Cougar to reach double figures with 14 points, Ericka Williams claimed a game high four steals for CofC, which shot 36.4 percent from the field (20-of-55).

Furman canned 39.6 percent of its shots (21-of-53).

The Paladins return to action on Saturday when they travel to Wofford for a 3 p.m. game. The Cougars visit Samford Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET