DURANT, Okla. — Henderson State hit a season-high 14 3-pointers on Tuesday and put five players in double figures as the Reddies held on for a big road win over Southeastern Oklahoma State, 94-92.

Henderson (8-2, 4-1) shot the ball exceptionally well in the first half and used four-consecutive 3-pointers at the end of the second quarter— one from Maci Mains, two from Lani Snowden, and one from Brittany Branum before the buzzer — to seize a 50-39 lead at the break behind 53 percent shooting from the field and 7-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Savage Storm (5-4, 3-2) came roaring back in the first four minutes of the third quarter when they used a 14-3 run to trim the Reddies’ lead down to just 57-54 with 6:06 to go in the period. SOSU tied the game on three separate occasions in the third, but Henderson never relinquished the lead and used 3-pointers from Snowden and Pink Jones to stem the tide and carry a 74-68 advantage into the final quarter.

The Reddies got a boost in the first two minutes of the fourth when Hailey Estes knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers but Southeastern responded once again and trimmed the lead down to 88-85 with 4:12 remaining. Pink Jones gave Henderson the breathing room it needed with five-straight points on the next two possessions to stretch the lead back out to 93-85, but the Savage Storm had one final push and closed the gap down to 94-92 in the waning seconds of the game with a 7-1 spurt.

Leading by two with less than 10 seconds to play, the Reddies got the stop they needed and forced SOSU’s Cierra Rangel into a wild 3-pointer at the buzzer which fell long, handing HSU a huge 94-92 road victory.

Pink Jones was fantastic for the Reddies and finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the win. Blu Jones and Snowden each added 14 points, while Branum had 12 and Estes provided 11 and eight rebounds.

As a team, Henderson had one of its best showings of the season offensively and shot 14-for-28 from the 3-point line and 16-of-19 at the stripe.

Henderson’s next contest comes after Christmas when the Reddies play their final game of the calendar year on Dec. 29 against non-conference foe Midwestern State at 2 p.m. in the Duke Wells Center.

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ARKADELPHIA — Pink Jones and Blu Jones combined to score 49 points as Henderson State stayed perfect in Great American Conference play with an 84-77 win over Harding on Saturday. The win leaves the Reddies as one of two remaining unbeaten teams tied for first place in the GAC.

Pink Jones scored a season-high 31 points on 9-for-16 shooting, while Blu Jones scored 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including 3-for-7 from 3-point range. Karrington Whaley and Brittany Branum held Harding’s Kellie Lampo to just 5-for-16 shooting, while Hailey Estes notched her second-straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Henderson (7-1, 3-0) returns to action next Saturday, Dec. 15, when HSU hosts Arkansas-Monticello at 1 p.m.

1st Quarter
Henderson jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead in the first three minutes after 3-pointers from Whaley and Estes, and although the Lady Bisons crept within two points on four different occasions, the Reddies had an 18-14 lead after the first 10 minutes behind nine points from Estes.

2nd Quarter
Harding started quickly in the second and eventually took a 22-21 lead after two free throws. Henderson responded to its first deficit with an 11-2 run behind baskets from Blu Jones, Pink Jones, Maci Mains, and Branum which gave the Reddies a 32-24 lead mid-way through the second quarter. HU cut the Reddies lead to four, 37-33, but Henderson ended the half on an 11-3 run, as a 3-pointer from Blu Jones rattled home with five seconds remaining to give HSU 48-36 lead at the break.

3rd Quarter
Henderson State refused to let the Lady Bisons back into the game following the intermission, as the Reddies extended their lead out to 18 points halfway through the third quarter. Harding finished the quarter on a modest 10-4 run to trim the deficit to 12 heading into the final frame with HSU up 66-54.

4th Quarter
An old-fashioned three-point play from Pink Jones gave the Reddies all the momentum and a 16-point lead with seven minutes to go, but the Lady Bisons responded with a 9-0 run to make the score 72-65 with four minutes to play. After a Henderson timeout, Whaley scored four-straight points and gave Henderson a double-digit lead, 76-65. Harding cut the Reddies’ lead down to six, 77-71, with 44 seconds to play, but six free throws from Pink Jones helped Henderson ice it and secure an 84-77 victory.

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Pink Jones, freshman, Henderson State (Fayetteville H.S.)

Jones helped her team turn things around after its first GAC loss of the season by recording a triple-double on Saturday. She put up 16 points, brought down 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists. A good number of those assists were to teammate Brittany Branum to help her score a career-high 31 points as HSU defeated Northwestern Oklahoma State, 87-74.

Derylton Hill, junior, Arkansas-Monticello

UAM is off to its best start in school history at 10-0 overall, with a 6-0 conference record as a part of it. In wins over Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Nazarene last week, Hill averaged 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists. The junior was efficient in getting the job done, shooting nearly 74 percent from the field.

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The Reddies saw the calendar turn and head into 2017 undefeated in conference games at 4-0.

Head coach Jill Thomas said it was a great conference start and that she is excited. But she is also tempering that excitement.

“I haven’t really put a whole lot of stress on that,” Thomas said. “I think that last year we put a too much on a perfect start early and we really didn’t finish the way we wanted to. So with a young group like we have right now I don’t want them thinking everything’s been accomplished already obviously, just because we have a 4-0 start.

“As any coach is going to tell you, January and February are very long months in basketball, especially for young kids who haven’t been in conference play like this. Back-to-back Thursday-Saturday games are not only tiring physically, they’re going to be tiring mentally.

“We’ve just been kind of taking each day to get better and prep and talk about what’s ahead, instead of what we did in conference play early.”

But conference play has been good for the Reddies so far. It’s those games against teams that aren’t members of the Great American Conference.

The Reddies’ 4-6 record is a bit of an anomaly. 4-0 against league competition; 0-6 against everyone else.

“Of course, it was an extremely disappointing non-conference schedule for us, starting with the very first game of the season at Southwest Baptist, who I thought was going to be our best non-conference opponent, and looking at it, they were.”

HSU had six players score in double figures in the season opener in Bolivar, Mo., but still fell 94-88 in overtime to the Bearcats.

“That game going into overtime with them, I was unbelievably excited and proud of our group. Such a young group fighting in such a tough environment with a senior and advanced-type MIAA team, I was very excited. But I didn’t think we grew throughout in all the games, like we did in that one.”

Of the six losses, one was a 15-point defeat to Northwest Missouri on a neutral court. The rest were single-digit margins.

“We were in it in all the games,” Thomas said. “And I saw some things get better with our defense and rebounding and those were two huge things that we talked about each game working on.

“In our last game against Texas A&M-Commerce, we went head-to-head with the No. 20 team in the country when it comes to rebounds, but then our offense fell off a little bit and we just didn’t make the easy ones, the free throws, the layups, so we’ve got to be able to put everything together.

“And that’s what seemed to happen in those non-conference games. Conference games, we seemed to be able to put it all together. And we have to be able to do that in both.”

Thomas has been getting solid play all around from this young group. Noticeably there has been production from Pink Jones, freshman from Fayetteville High, who is hitting 49 percent of her shots from the field and at 14.1 points per game is leading the team in scoring.

“She’s definitely ahead of schedule in those first six contests,” Thomas said. “The last two, I think she kind of hit a slump, which always happens in a freshman year. She came out of the gates better than any of us anticipated, and maybe even herself, I wonder.

“But she’s unbelievable. She’s so explosive. She’s so talented. And I’m really excited about what she’s going to be like for a second semester.

“A lot of freshmen don’t really understand this January-February schedule and how intense and how quick it happens. We put a lot on Pink’s shoulders and I hope has that maturity and she’s ready to handle that as we move through this conference play.”

That next semester begins tonight at home. The Reddies have the next four games in the Duke Wells Center, which starts with Southwestern Oklahoma State (7-3, 3-1 GAC) this evening and Northwestern Oklahoma State (3-8, 2-2 GAC) on Saturday.

“Southwestern is a team I can never speak enough praise about,” Thomas said. “I think they’re so well-coached and they have players that play so hard. And their offense is so good and they do such a good job of spreading them out and being able to make one-on-one plays. So when you have to help off one of those, they have the ability to hit one their shooters.”

With similar high-octane offenses, the scoreboard operator is usually busy when these two play. On Feb. 21, 2015, the teams combined for 224 points in a non-overtime game with SWOSU winning, 116-108, in the highest scoring game in conference history.

This year may be a little different. Maybe.

“Both teams are better on defense this year and both are very young teams. So it’s going to be an interesting matchup for us and I’m excited about the opportunity.

“We’ve talked about the importance of this game early in the season, because Southwestern has always been a powerhouse in the GAC. Always a top team, always in the conference championship. I think if we could be able to take a two-game lead on them, it would be very big for us right now.

“But it’s not going to come easy, by any means. They’re a great team.”

And Thomas said the team is getting ready for the challenge of what the next two months will present to it.

“Like anyone will tell you, it’s very dangerous in the GAC with what some of these teams can do offensively.”

Tip time for the Southwestern game is set for 5:30 p.m. with the men’s game to follow.

The doubleheader with Northwestern on Saturday is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

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