ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State got a career-high 37 points from
Pink Jones and held Southeastern Oklahoma State scoreless in overtime to fight past the Savage Storm 79-70 on Thursday night at the Duke Wells Center.
With the score knotted at 66-66 and 48 seconds remaining in regulation, Jones got an open look in the corner on a pass from
Hailey Estes and drained a 3-pointer to give Henderson a 69-66 lead. After a SOSU bucket and one free throw from Jones made it 70-68, the Savage Storm's Sa'Liesha Hunter got a driving layup to fall with seven seconds left to tie the score again and send the game into overtime.
The Reddies (16-6, 12-4) controlled the overtime period from the start and got a bucket from Jones and an Estes 3-pointer to grab a 75-70 advantage less than two minutes in. Moments later,
Haleigh Henson got a floater to fall and Jones added another layup to give Henderson full control and a 79-70 lead. That proved to be the final score, as the Savage Storm (9-12, 7-9) went 0-for-8 from the floor in the final five minutes and the Reddies surged to their fourth-straight win.
Jones, who was magnificent for Henderson all night long, finished with a career-high 37 points and was 4-for-4 from beyond the 3-point line, with three of those shots coming in the fourth quarter. Estes and Henson both added 13 points with three 3-pointers apiece. Henson's three 3-pointers made her the Great American Conference's all-time leader in 3-pointers with 271 in her career.
Bree Bossier also continued her strong play and chipped in eight points and 13 rebounds.
HSU trailed 31-27 at the break, but out-scored the Savage Storm by four in the third quarter to send the game into the fourth tied up 47-47. SOSU opened up leads of five points twice in the final quarter, but Jones' 3-pointers proved to be the answer and helped the Reddies rally.
Henderson shot 47.1 percent from the field as a team on Thursday night and picked up the win despite Southeastern shooting 15 more free throws. The victory is the Reddies' 16th of the year; the most wins in a season for the program since 2007-08 when they won 19 as a member of the Gulf South Conference.
The Reddies return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. against East Central in the Duke Wells Center.