ARKADELPHIA, Ark. -- Henderson State will knock out its furthest Great American Conference road trip of the season early this year, when the Reddies head to Alva and Weatherford, Oklahoma this weekend to face the Northwestern Oklahoma State (NWOSU) Lady Rangers on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and the Lady Bulldogs of Southwestern Oklahoma State (SWOSU) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Reddies opened the 2017-18 campaign last weekend at the Southwest Baptist Classic in Bolivar, Missouri, where they fell to the host Bearcats late, 83-71, but rebounded on Saturday to take down Northwest Missouri State, 75-63. Henderson led for more than 22 minutes in the loss to Southwest Baptist, but SBU went on a big 15-2 run late in the game, with 13 of those points coming from All-MIAA guard Megan Rosenbahm, to pull away for the win. Against Northwest Missouri, the Reddies used a big second quarter where they outscored the Bearcats 22-13 to jump in front and they never relinquished the lead again in the second half, as they opened up a gap as wide as 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Pink Jones, the reigning GAC Freshman of the Year, had a strong opening weekend for Henderson. She had 14 points in just 21 minutes in the win over Northwest, and put up 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in the loss to SBU. Through two games, Jones is shooting 54.5 percent from the field and is 8-for-9 at the free throw line. Another stand out from the SBU Classic was Torrie Thompson, who had 15 points against SBU and followed that up with a team-high 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting and seven rebounds in the win over Northwest Missouri. Thompson is shooting 61.9 percent from the field and is 5-of-7 from 3-point range so far this year. Haleigh Henson was in double figures against SBU, finishing with 13 points, and scored nine more against Northwest Missouri. Henson hit three 3-pointers in both contests. Blu Jones had 11 points and four steals against SBU, while Bree Bossier had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting and five rebounds in the win against Northwest.

Scouting NWOSU:
The Lady Rangers return six lettermen and two starters from their 2016-17 team that finished 9-19 overall and 8-14 in GAC play, the same as Henderson. NWOSU is led by head coach Tasha Diesselhorst who enters her second season at the helm of the Lady Rangers program after spending a very successful nine years at Oklahoma high school powerhouse Pond Creek-Hunter, where she won 170 games from 2010-16 and the 2014 Class A state title. The Lady Rangers were picked 10th out of 12 teams in the GAC preseason coaches poll.

NWOSU is led by transfer guard Jade Jones, who transferred to Alva from Southwestern Oklahoma State and sat out the 2016-17 season. Jones played at Pond Creek-Hunter for Diesselhorst before heading to SWOSU, where she started in 39 games for the Lady Bulldogs and averaged 11.6 points per game. The Lady Rangers will also look to true freshman forward Kinsey Neiderer, who scored 14 and nine points in the Lady Rangers first two games of the season against Northeastern State and Central Oklahoma. Senior post Kori Berrios started 25 games for NWOSU last season and averaged 9.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while also stepping out and hitting 47 3-pointers.

Scouting SWOSU:
SWOSU brings back 10 lettermen and four starters from their 2016-17 team that went 20-10 overall, 15-7 in the GAC and finished third in the conference standings. The Lady Bulldogs are coached by Kelsi Musick, who has won 130 games at SWOSU over the last eight seasons and has led the Lady Bulldogs to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013 and 2014. SWOSU was picked second out of 12 teams in the GAC preseason coaches poll.

Leading the charge this season for SWOSU is the reigning GAC Player of the Year, junior forward Hailey Tucker, who was an Honorable Mention All-American last season according to the NCAA DII Bulletin after leading the GAC in both points per game (18.6) and rebounds per game (9.0). Tucker was also a First Team All-Central Region pick and eclipsed the 1000-point milestone last season with two years left to play in her Lady Bulldog career. Alongside her is junior guard Hayden Priddy, who was an All-GAC First Team selection last season after averaging 15.5 points and 4.7 assists per game. Priddy led the GAC in floor time in 2016-17 with an average of 37.3 minutes played per game and also shot 82.7 percent from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Tyra Aska completes the Big Three for SWOSU. An All-GAC Honorable Mention pick last season as a freshman, Aska started in 30 games for the Lady Bulldogs and shot 44.1 percent from the field for the season.