Henderson State used 23 points from both Haleigh Henson and Pink Jones to defeat Southern Arkansas 81-70 on Thursday night at the Duke Wells Center and move to 6-1 in Great American Conference play on the year.

The Reddies have traditionally gotten off to strong starts this season and Thursday was no different, as Henderson jumped out to a 21-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter behind three 3-pointers from Henson, and then extended their lead to 28-14 with 8:05 left in the second. From there, the Lady Muleriders began to chip into the lead and cut it to 36-29 with only seconds left in the first half, but Henson got off a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer that banked in to give the Reddies a 39-29 lead and momentum once again heading into the break.

In the third period, SAU used a 21-11 run to tie the game up at 50-50 with 3:55 remaining in the quarter, but the Reddies finished the quarter strong to take a 57-53 lead into the game's final 10 minutes.

The fourth quarter proved to be tight, as Henderson could never pull away from the Lady Muleriders, who refused to go away. But with 1:47 remaining and the Reddies holding a 74-68 lead, Henson got loose for her third 3-pointer of the quarter and career-high seventh of the game to push the Henderson lead back out to nine at 77-68. One minute later, she found Brittany Branum on the fast break to seal the game for the Reddies, 81-70.

Henson was 7-for-9 from 3-point range in the game, and her final 3-pointer put her into sole possession of fourth-place all-time in the GAC in 3-pointers made, with 190. Pink Jones also had a strong game, and followed up her first career triple-double on Saturday with 23 points against the Lady Muleriders. Brittany Branum and Torrie Thompson each added double figure points for Henderson, with Branum scoring 11 and Thompson netting 10.

As a team, the Reddies shot 42.9 percent from 3-point range and 57 percent from the field for the game while holding SAU to 45 percent shooting from the floor.

Henderson's next game is Saturday at 1 p.m. against Arkansas-Monticello in the Duke Wells Center.