Hickory, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Basketball Team (4-0, 1-0) remained undefeated on the year with a 74-67 victory over Queens (1-2, 0-1) Wednesday in the Bears' home and South Atlantic Conference opener at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.

L-R junior guard Jazmine Charles (Lexington, N.C.) led the way with 21 points as the Bears held on for the win.

Queens' Nikia Squire (Columbia, S.C.) finished with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds but the Royals' second-half comeback fell short.

Lenoir-Rhyne built a 38-24 advantage at halftime but Queens slowly cut the lead and trailed by just two points at 64-62 on a pair of free throws by Squire with 2:23 left but couldn't get any closer.

L-R responded with a 7-0 run to put the contest out of reach with 39 seconds remaining in the game.? The Bears are off to their best start since a 6-0 mark to begin the 2007-08 campaign.

Lenoir-Rhyne junior guard Jenni Gust (Colfax, Wis.) and freshman forward Morgan Cooper (Virginia Beach, Va.) added 10 points each as the Bears held a 49-30 advantage on the boards in the win.

The Royals' Shonice Pettaway (Walstonburg, N.C.) scored 13 points as well in the losing effort.

Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Anderson in a South Atlantic Conference game Saturday at 4:00 p.m., while Queens travels to Harrogate, Tenn., to take on Lincoln Memorial Saturday afternoon in a league contest beginning at 2:00 p.m.