ANDERSON, S.C. - The Queens University of Charlotte women's basketball team (1-3, 0-3 SAC) fell to Anderson University (3-2, 3-0 SAC) this evening, 69-53, on the road.
 
Kalaya Hall led the Royals finishing with 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists, while Taylor Stevens added 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Kristy Hamze added nine points and Mikayla Sink chipped in with seven. Christina Deng led under the boards with nine rebounds while Kiana Barkhoff grabbed six rebounds.
 
Hall hit the game-opening three for the Royals to give Queens a short-lived lead over Anderson who knocked down two quick jumpers to take a 5-3 lead. A layup from Stevens followed by another triple from Hall would put the Royals back on top with 6:58 to play, but the Trojans answered with an 8-0 run to build a seven-point lead, 15-8, with just under four minutes left in the quarter. Barkhoff ended the scoring drought for Queens with a lay-in at 3:28 to cut the margin to five, 15-10, but a pair of three-pointers from the Trojans late in the quarter helped them take a 22-14 advantage into the second quarter.
 
The Royals opened the second period cold, not finding a bucket until 6:32 when Barkhoff scored another layup. By that time, the Trojans had expanded their lead to 16 points, and they would go on to lead by as much as 17 in the period. A three-pointer from Queens' Jori Wilks at the buzzer gave the game a 37-24 score at the halftime break.
 
Hamze came out of the locker room putting five quick points on the board for Queens giving them a much better start in the third than the second. Later in the period, Queens was able to hold the Trojans scoreless for nearly six minutes of play while scoring 10 points, closing the gap to eight, 47-39. A corner three with 18-seconds left on the clock would end Anderson's offensive woes and increase their lead back to 11, but Stevens responded with a quick layup to pull the Royals within nine, 50-41, heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
 
Back-to-back layups and a three-point play for Anderson allowed the home team to open up the game early in the final quarter. A 7-0 push from the Royals closed the gap back to 11, 59-48, with 5:48 to play but that's as close as the Royals would get as Anderson outscored Queens 10-5 to close the game out on top.
 
The Royals will be back in action on Dec. 1 to take on Tusculum University at home in Curry Arena for their annual Faculty and Staff Appreciation game. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
 
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