Henderson State gave No. 14 Arkansas Tech all it could handle before the Golden Suns pulled away late in the fourth quarter in beating the Reddies 68-62, Thursday at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville, Ark.

Henderson, 7-9 overall and 7-3 in the Great American Conference, used its aggressive defense in the opening quarter forcing six ATU turnovers scoring 8 points off the Golden Sun miscues as the Reddies held a 21-15 lead at the end of the period.

Brittany Branum scored eight points in the opening 10 minutes while Pink Jones added six.

Despite going four minutes without a field goal late in the frame, Henderson made 9-of-11 free throws with Torrie Thompson going 5-for-5 at the charity stripe.

ATU, 12-2 and 8-2 in the GAC, began the second period going on a 7-0 run to take a 22-21 lead before the Reddies finally got on the board with a 3-point field goal by Haleigh
Henson at the 7:02 mark to send Henderson on an 8-0 run. Henson added another trifecta as the Reddies held a 29-22 advantage midway through the quarter.

The Golden Suns closed the gap before half as the Reddies converted on only 2-of-11 field goal attempts the final four minutes of the half but Henderson still maintained a 31-28 halftime lead.

The third quarter began with the two teams going back-and-forth trading leads three times before Hailey Estes hit a long 3-pointer and Thompson followed with a conventional 3-point play to put the Reddies on top 43-39 with 4:27 left in the quarter.

ATU, however, finished the quarter outscoring the Reddies 16-4 to take a 55-47 lead as Henderson made just 1-of-5 field goals while the Golden Suns made 6-of-9 from the floor.

Henderson hit stride in the final quarter as the Reddies went on a 12-4 spurt to tie the score at the 3:24 mark as Estes battled for a pair of rebounds and field goals while also adding a 3-point field goal to tie the score at 59-59.

ATU's Calli White responded with a 3-point field goal then Anissa Pounds followed with a layup to put the Golden Suns back on top by five with under two minutes to play.

The Reddies cut the deficit to three with a 3-point field goal by Thompson with under a minute to play, but the Golden Suns held off Henderson's charge down the stretch.
Henson, Thompson and Estes finished the game with 13 points each while Jones finished with 11.

Henderson struggled from the field hitting just 19-of-62 from the field for 31 percent shooting while ATU was successful on 38 percent from the floor sinking 25-of-66 field goals.

The big statistic of the game was rebounding as the Golden Suns dominated the boards outrebounding Henderson 53 to 34.

The Reddies will return home Saturday to play host to first-place Harding with the opening tip set for 1 p.m. at the Duke Wells Center.

The game will Pediatric Cancer Awareness Day with the HSU women wearing gold shoe laces and the men sporting gold socks in support of the "GO 4 THE GOAL" Foundation. Donations will be accepted throughout the day.