MAGNOLIA, Ark. — Henderson State held Southern Arkansas to just 11 first-half points on Thursday evening and cruised past the Lady Muleriders 63-42 in the Great American Conference opener for both teams.

Karrington Whaley led all scorers with 16 points and also added eight rebounds, while Hailey Estes had 13 points and nine boards. Freshman Maci Mains made Henderson's offense go all night and finished with nine assists in her first GAC contest.

The Reddies (4-1) wasted no time getting out to an early advantage on the road, as their defense suffocated SAU in the opening quarter. The Lady Muleriders (1-4) were 0-for-11 shooting in the period and held scoreless as HSU jumped in front 17-0 through 10 minutes of play.

The lead ballooned for Henderson in the second quarter out to 27-4 after buckets from Estes and Whaley, but SAU found a couple of baskets just before the break to close the deficit to 30-11 heading into the locker room.

Much like the first 20 minutes, the second half was all Reddies. The Lady Muleriders never came within striking distance, as Henderson opened up a lead as big as 29 points en route to a comfortable first win of the GAC season.

Henderson's defense was the story as the Reddies held SAU to just 29.6 percent shooting from the floor for the game. HSU also out-rebounded the Lady Muleriders 37-26. SAU was just 3-for-25 from the 3-point line.

The Reddies' next game is Saturday at 1 p.m. when they take on Arkansas Tech in Russellville, Arkansas.