ANDERSON, S.C. - Cold shooting and turnovers proved costly as the Anderson women's basketball team dropped a 54-46 decision to visiting Winston-Salem State in non-conference basketball action Monday night at the Abney Athletic Center.

Despite committing 19 turnovers and connecting on just 3-of-18 from beyond the arc, Anderson (0-2) was in the contest until the final moments. With the win, Winston-Salem State improved to 2-0 on the young season.

Both teams began slowly on the offensive end, with the Trojans opening the contest by scoring the first seven points, with sophomore Tilde Ahlin scoring four on the inside.

The AU defense was stellar, holding the Lady Rams scoreless through the first 6:34, with senior Vontisha Woods finally getting WSSU on the scoreboard on a short jumper. Winston-Salem chipped away and took its first lead at 12-11 with just less than seven minutes left in the first half on the strength of a 10-4 run.

The Lady Rams capitalized on 11 first-half turnovers by the Trojans to edge out to a seven-point advantage twice inside the final two minutes of the first half, before senior guard Alexa Neal drained a 3-pointer from the right wing just before the horn to set the 24-20 halftime score.

After the Lady Rams notched the first basket of the second half, Anderson turned up the intensity on the defensive end and scored six unanswered points to knot the score for the only time of the night, at 26-26 with 16:05 left in the game.

But Winston-Salem responded with an 8-0 run of its own over the next four minutes to take a lead it would not relinquish. The Trojans refused to go away and pulled within 37-34 on an Alissa Diaz jumper at the 7:20 mark, but it was as close as AU would get as the Lady Rams responded to each Anderson challenge down the stretch.

Trailing by four inside the final minute, AU was forced to foul and WSSU connected on 7-of-8 free throws in the final moments to thwart a comeback.

Senior guard Ashley Abed netted a team-high 13 points and narrowly missed recording a double-double with her eight rebounds. Ahlin added 10 points and pulled down seven boards.

Winston-Salem's Courtney Medley scored a game-high 18 points, while Woods chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds.

Anderson will look to get into the win column on Thursday when the Trojans welcome rival Erskine to the Abney Center to close their season-opening three-game homestand. Tip-off versus the Flying Fleet is scheduled for 7 p.m.