ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson women's basketball team erased nearly all of a 16-point second-half deficit, but fell, 72-60, to visiting Lenoir-Rhyne in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball play Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center.

Anderson slipped to 7-12 overall and 4-7 in the league, while Lenoir-Rhyne (15-5, 7-4 SAC) earned a split of the season series with the Trojans and has won three of its last four games.

Trailing by two early, the Trojans scored nine unanswered points to push out to their largest lead of the game, at 11-4, with 16:02 on the clock. Freshman guard Lauren Woods spared the run by dropping in a driving layup and her twin sister, Lesley Woods notched five of her career-high 10 points to fuel the surge, as AU connected on five-of-eight from the field to open the game.

Lenoir-Rhyne countered with an 8-0 run to briefly regain a 12-11 advantage, with the next two minutes featuring three lead changes. But with the score knotted at 16 apiece, Lenoir-Rhyne reeled off 10 unanswered points over the next two minutes to garner a 26-16 lead with 8:19 left in the first half.

Freshman center Jaclyn Moore scored four points and junior guard Amanda Parris knocked down two of her career-high five 3-pointers to lead the Trojans back within 32-28 with 2:14 on the clock, but L-R scored the final six points to set the halftime score at 38-28.

The Bears opened their largest lead of the game, 49-33, less than four minutes into the second frame, but the Trojans chipped away to trim the deficit to just 55-53 midway through the final half on another trey from Parris, but it was as close as AU would get, as Lenoir-Rhyne maintained the lead down the stretch.

Parris scored a career-high 17 points, while fellow junior Alissa Diaz netted 12 points and forward Breonda Shannon recorded a game-high 11 rebounds off the bench.

The Trojans visit Mars Hill on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest versus the Lions. Anderson defeated MHC, 73-68, in early December at the Abney Center.