ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State had five players score in double figures on Saturday afternoon and used a big run over the last five minutes of the game to pull away and defeat Northwestern Oklahoma State 78-61 in the Duke Wells Center.

NWOSU (9-10, 5-8) found ways to hang around for most of the second half against the Reddies and with 5:38 to play, the Lady Rangers pulled within 63-57 — the closest they had come all afternoon. At that moment, though, Henderson (13-6, 9-4) kicked it into gear, and used back-to-back 3-pointers from Hailey Estes and Blu Jones to jump-start a 15-1 run over the final five minutes. The run stretched a once-six point lead out to 20 and helped the Reddies streak away for their ninth GAC win of the year.

All five starters for Henderson scored in double digits on the afternoon. Hailey Estes led the way with 18 and five boards, Pink Jones had 15 with six assists and five rebounds, while Blu Jones finished with a career-high 14. Bree Bossier continued her stellar play, chipping in a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double and Haleigh Henson was the final double figure scorer for the Reddies as she finished with 11.

Henderson got off to a fast start and jumped out to a 20-5 advantage in the first quarter before NWOSU trimmed the deficit down to 38-27 at the halftime break. The Lady Rangers made a big push at the end of the third quarter to cut the Reddies' lead down to just 56-51 with seconds left in the period, but Henson found Bossier on a half court pass for a layup at the buzzer to give HSU momentum back before it finally pulled away in the fourth.

The Reddies' defense was again fantastic as they held NWOSU 40 percent shooting from the floor and 27.3 percent shooting in the fourth quarter. Henderson again out-rebounded a bigger team, this time 34-29, and finished an impressive 14-of-15 at the free throw line while shooting just under 50 percent from the floor. HSU also shared the ball well all afternoon and racked up 14 assists as a team to just three for the Lady Rangers.

Henderson's next game is Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against Oklahoma Baptist in Shawnee, Oklahoma.