ANDERSON, S.C. -- The Anderson College Lady Trojans' dream of finishing their season in Hot Springs, Ark., to take a shot at winning the Division II national championship was thwarted Monday night by a cold night in a hot gym. AC's best season as an NCAA Division II program -- and one of the best in school history -- ended one game shy of a berth in the Elite Eight in an 88-71 loss to Charleston (W. Va.) in the Women's East Regional final at Abney Center. The Lady Trojans (33-3), the region's top seed, entered the game as the third-highest scoring team in the country, but a 31.3-percent shooting night conspired to keep them 18 points below their season average. The loss snapped AC's nation's-best 23-game winning streak. Third-seed Charleston (29-4) now advances to the Division II Elite Eight in Hot Springs March 23-26. "We really felt we had the two best teams in the tournament playing tonight," AC coach Kevin Pederson said. "I thought we were the best team, I really did, and I believe in our girls 100 percent, (but) Charleston was clearly the better team tonight. They came out and they played hard. They made the hustle plays. They definitely deserved it tonight." The Lady Trojans, 45-percent shooters during the season, shot 26-of-83 from the field and 9-of-15 from the foul line. They hit only 28.6 percent in the second half and missed their last nine shots in a furious attempt to rally. Their three top players - LaShonda Chiles, Deanna Thompson and Stephanie Ponds - were a combined 19-of-59 from the field. Chiles led the Lady Trojans with 27 points, but shot 10-of-28 from the floor. Thompson (4-of-19) scored 12 points and Ponds (5-of-12) had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Chiles and Ponds made the All-East Regional team. "We didn't have the shooting night we needed to have," Pederson said. "It was very uncharacteristic for us at the free throw line and as far as the floor, it's in the stats. "We took bad shots. We panicked down the stretch, I thought that was evident. We've won 23 in a row and these girls have played at an unbelievably consistent level and it caught up with us tonight. "I'd put my starting five against just about any Division I team in the country let alone a Division II. They're great players. We just had one too many people have an off night tonight." Even though they struggled with their shooting, the Lady Trojans were still in the game in the second half. They trailed by 13 with 15:14 left, but a 3-pointer by Thompson capped a charge that got them within 56-53 with 11:50 to play. It was a three-point game with 8:21 left, then Charleston went on an 11-2 run to take its lead back to double digits. The Lady Trojans never got closer than eight the rest of the game. "I thought we were in the game, I thought we had a chance to win when we broke it down to three," Chiles said. Pederson knew the Lady Trojans had to stop Charleston's Lisa Lee and Courtney Thomas, but the Golden Eagles' two All-East Regional picks combined to score 49 points. Lee, the tournament MVP, scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Thomas scored 26 points, including a 3-pointer with 7:37 to play that Pederson called the shot of the game. In addition to their school-record 23 straight victories, The Lady Trojans set the school record for victories in single season and points scored in a single season, and reached their first regional final in just their second NCAA Tournament appearance. "We've been fortunate to have a lot of good supporters and people telling us what a great job we've done," Pederson said. "But we had the mindset that this wasn't good enough for us. I know this was new territory for us, but we really had higher expectations to make that Elite Eight. We expect a lot out of ourselves and we're very disappointed that we're not going to Hot Springs, Ark. "It's been a record-setting year. I'm sure when we get over this moment right now, we'll feel pretty good about it, but right now …" NCAA East Regional Finals: Charleston, W.Va. 88, Anderson 71 Anderson Women's Basketball Final Statistics