ROCK HILL, S.C. -- The Trojans made history on Wednesday afternoon, taking down No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne as the No. 8 seed in a decisive 79-63 victory in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals. Anderson won the first three quarters by no less than seven points and had a lead on the regular season champions for the entire 40 minutes. It is just the second time in SAC history that a No. 8 seed has upset the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals.
"So proud of this team," head coach
Jonathon Barbaree said. "Today we played as a team both on offense and defense. Excited to have a chance to play again this Friday."
The Trojans exploded to a 17-5 start in the first quarter, allowing the lone tie score of the game at 3-3. The Bears rallied to get within five but the Trojans finished the quarter with a 21-14 edge. Junior
Kyla Cain (Atlanta, Ga.) spurred the Trojans to the hot start with 12 points in the first quarter.
Anderson rolled through the next two quarters, winning them 25-17 and 18-10. The Bears came up with a late push, winning the fourth quarter 22-15 but it was not enough to bridge the gap.
The Trojans had their best shooting performance of the season, with a 50.9 shooting percentage from the field. They tied their season-best of 10 triples with a season-best 62.5 shooting percentage from deep. They won the boards 40-34.
Cain finished the day with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. She shot 8-15 from the field and added three blocks with two steals.
Graduate student
Ciara Harris (Alexandria, Va.) dropped 21 points shooting 7-10 from the field. She put away four triples and grabbed seven rebounds with four assists and five steals.
Senior
Ashlyn Sheridan (Knoxville, Tenn.) had 15 points with three triples. She grabbed four rebounds and two blocks.
The Trojans advance to the Semifinals when they will take on the winner of No. 4 Carson-Newman and No. 5 UVA Wise on Friday, March 6 at 12 p.m.
