ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — The Henderson State women's basketball team opens its 2018-2019 season this weekend with two games against Southwest Baptist University and the University of Sioux Falls in Bolivar, Missouri. Both games will be played at Southwest Baptist.

Henderson is coming off of one of its best years in recent memory. The Reddies won 21 games last season, collected a 16-6 record in GAC play, and advanced to the Great American Conference Tournament semifinals. Although HSU lost 1,000 point scorer Haleigh Henson, the Reddies return All-GAC First Teamer Pink Jones. Last season, Jones became just the third Henderson player to win First Team All-GAC honors after averaging 16.3 points per game on 48.2 percent shooting.

Blu Jones stepped into the Reddies' starting lineup midway through the season and provided 8.1 points per game. Hailey Estes, although best known for her outside shooting, is expected to help Henderson in multiple ways. Estes led the Reddies with eight rebounds per game last season and had six-straight games with double-digit rebounds. Estes also averaged 10.6 points for the Reddies and was second on the team with 61 made 3-pointers.

The Reddies will look to Karrington Whaley to step up and provide solid post play in order to replace forward Bree Bossier. Whaley came on strong at the end of last season, finishing the year with an extremely efficient 64.7 shooting percentage. She also set the school record for blocks in a game with eight rejections in just 18 minutes against Harding.

Scouting Southwest Baptist – Nov. 9 - 5:00 P.M.
The Bearcats have had their struggles over the past two seasons, as they have compiled a 14-24 conference record over that time frame. In order for head coach Kelsey Keizer to turn it around, she will need to figure out how to replace Megan Rosenbohm, who averaged almost 20 points per game for SWB last season. Megan was just one of two Bearcats to average double-digits last season. The other, Caylee Richardson, does return and could be a handful for a Reddies team that is thin in the frontcourt. Richardson averaged 16.3 points per game last season on 55 percent shooting from the floor. Richardson also led the team with 8.7 rebounds per contest. Another player for the Reddies to watch is senior Morgan Henderson. Henderson will likely take a larger role this season after averaging close to nine points per game last year. Henderson is known for her dynamic play, as she averaged 4.3 rebounds and more than two assists per game last season. One of the possible weaknesses for the Bearcats is their inability to connect from long distance. Last season, SWB made just 31.3 percent of its 3-point attempts. Although the Bearcats have struggled over the past few years, SWB has had Henderson's number. Southwest Baptist and the Reddies have faced off the past three seasons with the Bearcats prevailing in each meeting.

Scouting Sioux Falls – Nov. 10 - 12:00 P.M.
After making a run to the conference semifinals last season, USF looks to improve on its 2017-2018 year which saw the Cougars finish with a 16-13 overall record and an 11-11 mark in conference play. USF is expecting big things, as the Cougars return all three of their All-NSIC players. Juniors Kaely Hummel and Mariah Szymanski earned second team honors, while senior Jacey Huinker was named to the NSIC All-Defensive team. Hummel led the Cougars with 15.9 points per game, while Szymanski poured in 13 points per game. Huinker averaged 6.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Last year was the third-straight season that USF advanced to the conference tournament semifinals. USF is eager to see if Division 1 transfer Anna Goodhope can take them over the top. Goodhope spent one season at North Dakota State where she appeared in 24 games, averaged 4.4 points and shot 41.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Cougars are led by head coach Travis Traphagen who enters his 11th season at the helm of the program. Traphagen has won 194 games and has totaled a 105-81 conference record at USF.