HICKORY, N.C. -- The Trojans fell to Lenoir-Rhyne (13-4, 9-2 SAC) on the road on Wednesday night by an 81-72 scoreline. Anderson moves to 7-10 overall and 3-8 in the South Atlantic Conference with the loss. At the end of the first half of the season, the Trojans sit at ninth in the SAC standings. 

"We battled hard all game. I was very proud of that effort," head coach Jonathon Barbaree said. "I'm excited where this team is headed and the start of the second half the season. It's coming, you can see it!"

Anderson went up by as much as nine in the first quarter but went into the locker room down 43-33 at halftime, despite being tied at 28 three minutes into the second quarter. 

The Trojans won the third quarter 22-16 to get within four at 59-55 heading into the final ten minutes. The Bears opened on a 10-6 run and the Trojans could not close the gap. 

The Trojans shot 43.5 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from behind the arc and 66.7 percent from the line. They won the boards 40-35, but were out shot by the Bears who came up with a 50.8 field goal percentage. 

Four Trojans were in double digits, led by junior Kyla Cain (Atlanta, Ga.) who dropped a new career-high of 18 points on 8-14 shooting with seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals. 

Freshman Ashley Hill (Covington, Ga.) came up with an efficient 15 points on 7-11 shooting with nine rebounds. 

Senior Ashlyn Sheridan (Knoxville, Tenn.) dropped 14 points with five rebounds.

Graduate student Ciara Harris (Alexandria, Va.) had 13 points with four assists. 

Junior Jessica Cooper (South Plainfield, N.J.) came off for seven points while junior Jayla Cal (Gilbert, Ariz.) had a team-high five assists and five points. 

The Trojans have a quick turnaround when they host Emory & Henry this Friday, Jan. 23, a rescheduled matchup due to incoming inclement weather. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.