SEARCY, AR - Henderson State got 13 points and four assists from freshman Blue Jones, but first-place Harding shot 64 percent from the field over the first three quarters to pull away and defeat the Reddies 84-58 on Thursday night in the Rhodes-Reaves Field House. 

Harding got off to a fast start at home and opened up a 26-13 lead on Henderson with 1:34 left in the first quarter. The Reddies responded well in the final minute-and-a-half, though, and used a 3-pointer from Jones and a three-point-play from Torrie Thompson to end the period on a 6-0 run and cut the lead to 26-19 going into the second.

The Lady Bisons again stretched their lead out to double figures at the 7:16 mark of the second, but the Reddies answered once more with two free throws from Lexis Weber and a 3-pointer from Thompson to whittle the deficit back down to five, 32-27 with 5:45 left in the half. From there, however, Harding took over behind a 14-2 run, which featured four 3-pointers from guard Falan Miller, to seize a 46-29 advantage and all the momentum going into the halftime break.

Henderson tried to respond early in the third period and got a layup from Jones to cut the lead to 15 points. That would be as close as the Reddies would come, though, as the Lady Bisons used an 18-6 run over the next six minutes further extend the lead out to 64-37 with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter. Henderson did its best to fight back in the final 10 minutes, but the hole was too deep, and Harding cruised to an 84-58 win.

Jones led the Reddies with 13 points and four assists, while Thompson chipped in 11 points and four assists of her own. Henderson hit 10 3-pointers, but shot just 28.8 percent from the field for the game and allowed Harding to score 44 points in the paint in the loss. The defeat drops the Reddies to 8-11 in Great American Conference play on the year.

The Reddies next game is Saturday at 1 p.m. against Arkansas Tech at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia. The contest is the final home game of the 2016-17 season for Henderson.