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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — The Henderson State women's basketball team, after a tough road trip to Oklahoma two weekends ago, returns to Great American Conference play this week when it takes on Southern Nazarene on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the first home contest of its 2017-18 conference slate.

Henderson played its first home game of the 2017-18 season on Tuesday night, defeating NAIA Paul Quinn College 75-64. The Reddies were led by Haleigh Henson, who finished with 21 points, 16 of which came in the first half, on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor with four 3-pointers. Pink Jones added 14 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Bree Bossier chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. HSU held the Lady Tigers to 14.3 percent shooting from the floor in the second half (5-of-35) after trailing 40-39 at halftime and out-rebounded Paul Quinn 54-38. The win moved the Reddies to 2-3 on the young season.

The Reddies first conference games of the year came two weekends ago on the road in Oklahoma, where Henderson fell to both Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southwestern Oklahoma State. In its GAC opener against the Lady Rangers of NWOSU, HSU had the ball in a tie game with just 11 seconds to play, but a missed shot and a foul on NWOSU's ensuing possession gave the Lady Rangers the opportunity to hit one free throw with four seconds remaining to clinch the win, 72-71.

Two days later, Henderson took on a hot SWOSU team in Weatherford, Oklahoma, hung with the Lady Bulldogs for the entire first half and entered the break with the score knotted at 40-40. However, the third quarter was a killer for the Reddies, as they shot just 20 percent from the floor in the period and were outscored by SWOSU 26-13. HSU could not find a big rally in the final 10 minutes and fell 80-72.

Reddies Report
Pink Jones has been the catalyst for Henderson early this season, averaging 14 points, 4.4 rebounds and nearly two steals per game, while shooting 52.2 percent from the floor. Jones has already been to the line 31 times this year in just five games, where she is 22-for-31 (71 percent). She had eight points against NWOSU and 16 on 5-of-10 shooting against SWOSU. Her 14 points per game ranks 10th in the GAC and her 52.2 percent shooting from the field ranks fifth.

Haleigh Henson is off to a good start in her senior campaign and is averaging 14.8 points per game (ninth in the GAC) and is the league leader in 3-point field goals made per game (3.4). She is 20 points away from 1000 for her career and has hit 229 3-pointers which puts her 40 away from breaking the GAC-record for three's in a career (268 - Anissa Pounds, Arkansas Tech). Henson had 17 points against NWOSU and 14 against SWOSU.

Hailey Estes broke out of a slump in Oklahoma by scoring 24 points with six 3-pointers in the loss to SWOSU. Estes is averaging 10.4 points per game and eight rebounds per game, which is ninth overall in the GAC.

Lani Snowden is 5-of-7 from 3-point range so far this season and currently leads the GAC in 3-point shooting percentage (71.4 percent). Bree Bossier had a strong showing against NWOSU, going for 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, but did not score against SWOSU. She averages 8.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

As a team, Henderson averages 73.2 points per game (fourth in the GAC) but is allowing 72 points per game to its opponents. The Reddies are shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and 35.6 percent from 3-point range (second-best in the GAC). HSU has a rebounding margin of plus 3.4 but a turnover margin of -2.8.

Scouting Southern Nazarene
Southern Nazarene enters Thursday night's contest 3-0 overall and 2-0 in GAC play, which is its best start under head coach Derek Dorris who is in his sixth season at the helm of the Crimson Storm program. SNU is led by junior guard Adrienne Berry, who averages 16.3 points per game, fourth-most in the GAC, as well as freshman Alexus Jones, who has averaged 10.3 points per game through her first three college contests. Senior guard Sidney Carolina is fifth in the GAC in rebounding with an average of 7.7 boards per game. Henderson is 6-4 all-time vs. Southern Nazarene.

The Crimson Storm defeated Southern Arkansas 72-59 and Arkansas-Monticello 59-49 in the first weekend of the GAC season. As a team, SNU is shooting 37 percent from the field and holding its opponents to 34 percent shooting so far this season (second-best in the GAC). Through three games, SNU has the No. 1 scoring defense in the GAC, allowing just 53 points per game to its opponents. Offensively, however, the Crimson Storm struggle and rank 11th in the league in scoring offense with an average of 63.7 points per game.

Last Season vs. Southern Nazarene
Henderson split its two matchups with the Crimson Storm last season. In the first meeting in Arkadelphia, the Reddies out-paced SNU 88-69 and had five players score in double figures, led by Henson with 20 and Thompson with 17. HSU held SNU to just 32 percent shooting in the win. In the second match-up in Bethany, Oklahoma, Pink Jones injured her shoulder early in the game and played just nine minutes as Henderson fell 84-72. Thompson had 17 again to lead the Reddies but it was not enough to overcome the Crimson Storm's 47 percent shooting from the floor.