ADA, Okla. — Henderson State sophomore Pink Jones hit two clutch free throws and a driving layup in the final minute on Thursday night, and the Reddies came up with two big defensive stops in the final seconds, to hold on and defeat East Central 82-78 in its first game of the calendar year.

After leading by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, Henderson saw its lead gradually slip away over the course of the second half, as the Tigers rallied to seize a 72-69 advantage with just 2:47 to play in the game. With momentum fading, senior Haleigh Henson found herself open on the left wing and drilled a deep 3-pointer to tie things up at 72-72 with 1:48 to go. After ECU answered with a bucket on its ensuing possession, it was sophomore Hailey Estes' turn to find herself open and hit a big three, which she did, this time from the left corner, to give Henderson life and a sudden 75-74 lead with just 1:17 left.

Two free throws on a foul gave ECU the lead back 76-75 with less than a minute to go on its next possession, but Jones, on a strong take, earned two of her own and knocked them down to give the Reddies the advantage once again 77-76. Refusing to relent in their own right, the Tigers answered again, this time on a layup with 31 seconds remaining to surge out in front 78-77. Jones, though, would make sure it was Henderson who benefited from the final lead change, as she got a driving, contested, left-handed layup to fall with 17 seconds to play in the game to push the Reddies back into the lead, 79-78. After a defensive stop and a free throw from Estes on the next trip down, Henderson needed one last stand, and got it, as the Tigers' layup went off the rim and into the arms of Estes, who canned two more free throws to ice it for the Reddies and seal the late comeback.

Jones was the catalyst for Henderson, as she finished with 25 points and went 11-of-15 from the free throw line. Estes did a little bit of everything for the Reddies as well, putting up 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. Henson and fellow senior Bree Bossier rounded out the double-digit scorers for HSU, with Henson netting 12 points and Bossier 10. As a team, Henderson out-rebounded ECU 40-36 and shot 26 free throws to just 17 for the Tigers.

Before the big ECU rally, HSU got what seemed like a stranglehold on the contest late in the second quarter. With East Central leading 30-29 with 4:26 to go in the first half, the Reddies put together a big 18-0 run, 11 points of which came from Jones, to snatch the lead and momentum in the blink of an eye and help them carry a 49-35 advantage into the halftime break, before then surviving the Tigers' surge in the second.

The win moves the Reddies to 7-4 on the year, 3-2 in Great American Conference play, and snaps a five-game GAC road losing streak dating back to last season. Henderson's next game is Saturday at 1 p.m. against Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant, Oklahoma.