MONTICELLO, AR - Henderson State had five players score in double figures but Arkansas-Monticello used a big third quarter run and hot second half shooting to come back and defeat the Reddies 81-73 on Thursday night in Monticello, Arkansas.

Everything was working for the Reddies early, as they started the game on an 11-0 run which ballooned into a 29-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Henderson stretched the lead to as many as 20 in the second quarter on a jumper from Hailey Estes with 4:44 left in the half, but UAM found its footing in the final four minutes and regrouped slightly to cut the deficit to down to 17 points, 41-24, at the break.

In quarter number three, things changed for Henderson, as UAM erased the 17-point lead in under six minutes on a massive 26-8 run, capped off by a 3-pointer from Treasure Evans with 4:01 remaining in the period, to give the Blossoms their first lead of the game, 52-49. The Reddies hung on for the next four minutes, but the damage was done, as UAM took a 56-53 lead into the final quarter - a 20 point swing in just 10 minutes.

UAM didn't stop attacking in the fourth and used a 9-2 run to put Henderson in a 65-55 hole with 7:58 to go in the game. The Reddies tried to make one final push late, and got a 3-pointer from Blu Jones to cut the lead to 76-71 with 59 seconds to go, but it was too late for a rally and the Blossoms pulled away for an 81-73 victory. 

Brittany Branum scored 17 for the Reddies, Estes chipped in 15, both Jones sisters, Pink and Blu, had 12 apiece and Torrie Thompson netted 10 to help pace HSU. Henderson was 10-of-11 from the free throw line and hit seven 3-pointers, but were outscored in the third quarter 32-12 and allowed UAM to shoot 65.5 percent in the second half in the loss. The defeat drops the Reddies to 7-15 on the year and 7-9 in Great American Conference play.

The Reddies' next game is Saturday at 1 p.m. against Southern Arkansas in Magnolia, Arkansas.