HICKORY, NC--The Anderson University Lady Trojans finished their season with one last valiant effort Friday evening at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium in the quarterfinals of the 2009 NCAA Division II Southeast Region Women's Basketball Tournament, as they fell to the #1 seeded Lenoir-Rhyne Bears 69-58. AU fell behind 9-0 early in a sporadic, up and down contest and went down as many as 18 in the first half (31-13) before going into the locker room down 32-17 at the half. Sophomore point guard Alexa Neal got into early foul trouble and the Lady Trojans struggled from the field in the first half, shooting only 24.1-percent. After the intermission, AU fell behind 37-17, then the Lady Trojans roared back; keeping the AU contingent on their feet, Anderson ripped into the Bears' lead in style, going on a 21-4 run, cutting the lead to three. Lenoir-Rhyne remained fundamentally judicious, grabbing 3 of 4 old school 3-point conversions, and were able to make a 12-0 run of their own. The Trojans were held scoreless during the next 4:28, and were never able to recover. "My hat's off to Lenoir-Rhyne," said Trojan head coach Jim Brunelli. "We were not surprised; they did everything we thought they would do. I am just so proud of my team; they have been here before and I haven't; I just hate that it has to end now." The Lady Trojan senior shooting guard and Conference Carolinas tournament MVP Keana Boyd led all scorers with 21 points and was helped by Kirsten Peterson and Alexa Neal as they chipped in 10 points a piece. The Lady Trojans, a fifth seed in the Conference Carolinas tournament, were never even supposed to be here; but ask any one of the women, and they will all tell you they expected in every way to move on. "Next year," said Brunelli, "we expect to be back." Box Score