ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State used a balanced offensive attack on Saturday afternoon to get past Midwestern State 76-69 in its final non-conference game of the year at the Duke Wells Center.

Four Reddies scored in double figures, as Brittany Branum, Pink Jones and Blu Jones all finished with 15 apiece, while Hailey Estes added 12. The win improves HSU to 9-2 overall on the year which matches the program's best start to a season since 2006-07 when the Reddies opened 11-0.

After falling behind 19-15 after the first quarter, Henderson used a 22-12 second quarter to take control of the game and a 37-31 lead into the halftime break.

The Reddies opened up a double-digit advantage in the opening moments of the third quarter, when a 3-pointer from Branum and buckets from Karrington Whaley and Blu Jones extended HSU's lead out to 44-33. Henderson led by as many as 12 in the period before the Mustangs cut the deficit down to 57-50 in the waning seconds of the third, but a Branum 3-pointer at the horn pushed the lead back out to 60-50 with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Midwestern State owned the first half of the fourth and used an 11-2 run to trim the gap down to just 62-61 with 5:14 to play. With their lead suddenly cut to just a point, the Reddies responded with a huge 3-pointer from Blu Jones, a bucket from Pink Jones, and an old fashioned three-point-play from Estes to jump-start an 8-2 spurt which put them up 70-63 with just under three minutes left.

The Mustangs tried to rally and came within 73-69 in the final seconds, but clutch free throws down the stretch from Pink Jones, Maci Mains, and Branum helped Henderson hold them off and pick up the 76-69 win in the final game of the 2018 calendar year.

Henderson's next game is on Jan. 3 at 5:30 p.m. when the Reddies face Oklahoma Baptist on the road in Shawnee, Oklahoma.