SAVANNAH, Ga. - Looking to stay undefeated in the month of December, the Anderson women's basketball team scored 16 of its last 18 points at the free throw line as the Trojans opened play at the 2010 Hampton Inn & Suites Fall Finals Classic by outpacing Peach Belt-foe Columbus State, 58-50, Friday afternoon at the Armstrong Atlantic University Sports Center.

In the midst of a challenging five-game road stretch, Anderson (5-2) stretched its win streak to five games and has won three consecutive contests away from home while improving to 5-0 in December.

Columbus State (5-3) dropped its third consecutive game with the setback after opening the season with a five-game win streak.

In a second half featured five ties and six lead changes, the Lady Cougars took their largest lead of the contest, 44-38, on a 3-pointer by Tandria Milton with 7:19 left in the game. But Anderson rallied to close the game with a 20-6 run that began with six unanswered points over the next two-plus minutes to knot the score for the sixth time of the afternoon. Freshman Kimberly Major sparked the surge with a driving layup and Alexa Neal and Breonda Shannon followed with four consecutive free throws.

The Trojans connected on 16-of-18 from the free throw line down the stretch, as sophomore guard Alissa Diaz gave the Trojans a lead they would not relinquish with two free throws at the 4:22 mark and the AU defense held Columbus State scoreless over the final 1:44.

The Trojans pushed out to a 16-6 lead, the largest cushion by either team, with 13:55 remaining in the first half when Ashley Abed knocked down a 3-pointer. But Columbus State chipped away and closed the gap to just a deuce on back-to-back 3s with just less than eight minutes showing on the clock.

The Lady Cougars tied the score on a Dominique Gilbert jumper at the 5:28 mark, but AU refused to surrender the lead, as Parris and Neal sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a CSU basket to boost the Trojans' lead back to four, at 25-21, and AU went to the break holding a 28-25 edge.

Neither team was able to build more than a five-point advantage in the second half until Columbus State claimed their late 44-38 lead.

The Trojans were out-rebounded, 41-36, but out-shot the Lady Cougars 37 percent to 32.3 percent and connected on 18-of-21 free throws in the second half.

Alexa Neal, the reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week, led all scorers with 23 points, while teammate Ashley Abed added her second double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Anderson will get back on the hardwood quickly, as the Trojans square off against host Armstrong Atlantic State Saturday evening, with tip-off slated for 6 p.m. at the Armstrong Sports Center.