In its home opener, the Henderson State women's basketball team fell 89-87 in the final seconds to UA-Fort Smith on Tuesday night at the Duke Wells Center in non-conference action.
After claiming an 86-83 lead with 56 seconds remaining on a
Moe Bedford layup, the Reddies looked to be in control.
However, UAFS would answer by scoring on its next three possessions to take an 88-86 lead.
The Reddies pulled within one on a free-throw by
Brittany Branum with five seconds remaining, but the freshman from Greenwood, Ark. was unable to connect on her second attempt as UAFS grabbed the rebound and eventually would sink one more free throw before time ran out.
HSU trailed by as much as 13 in the second half as UAFS took a 49-36 lead early in the third quarter before HSU attempted its comeback.
Henderson State slowly chipped away at the UAFS lead, eventually tying the game at 74-74 as
Victoria Stewart drove the lane and found a cutting
Dulincia Keener for a layup at the 7:56 mark.
The game saw eight lead changes over the course of the final seven minutes, as both teams got hot from the field.
HSU had five double-digit scorers in the contest, led by the senior Stewart who had 22 points on 6-of-16 field goal attempts and was 8-of-10 at the free-throw stripe.
Keener also had a monster night pouring in 17 points and ripping down 16 boards.
Greenwood natives
Brittany Branum,
Megan Hartness, and
Haleigh Henson rounded out the double-figure scorers for HSU on the night.
Branum contributed 15 points in the contest, while Hartness had 14 and Henson scored 11.
Henson also stole the ball four times in the game and dished out four assists.
As a team, the Reddies shot 28-of-73 from the field for 38 percent, while UAFS was 32-of-71 for 45 percent.
Henderson State forced 18 UAFS turnovers while committing 15, and also edged out the Lady Lions in the assist category 14-to-13.
The Reddies will look to rebound on Saturday as the team travels to Denton, Texas for another non-conference matchup at Texas Woman's University, with tipoff set for 2 p.m.
