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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - Two of the top teams in the Great American Conference will meet for the first time this season on Thursday when Henderson State travels to Ada, Oklahoma, to take on East Central at 5:30 p.m.

REDDIES REPORT
- Henderson (13-4, 8-3) sits in sole possession of second place in the Great American Conference after picking up two wins last week against Ouachita Baptist and Arkansas Tech. The win on Saturday against the Golden Suns gave the Reddies their first season sweep of ATU since the 2005-06 season.

- Hailey Estes had an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win over ATU and moved into sixth place all-time at Henderson in rebounding. Estes is currently fourth in the GAC in rebounding (8.6 per game) and sixth in made 3-pointers (22). The Reddies are 8-0 this season when she hits two or more 3-pointers.

- Blu Jones has scored in double figures in 10-straight games for the Reddies and is averaging 15.8 points during that stretch. Jones leads the GAC in 3-pointers made (26) and is fourth in steals with 2.3 per game.

- As a team, Henderson is 5-0 this season in GAC play when it out-rebounds its opponents. The Reddies are also 7-2 in true road games this year and have lost just one conference game in 2018-19.

- Thursday is the 18th meeting all-time between the two schools in women's basketball. ECU holds the series lead 11-6 but the Reddies took both matchups against the Tigers last season. ECU had a 22-point first half lead on Henderson in Arkadelphia last year but the Reddies stormed back to defeat the Tigers 79-71 in their biggest comeback of the season.

SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
- East Central comes into Thursday night's contest 12-4 on the season and 7-3 in GAC play. The Tigers had won nine-straight games before falling on Saturday to Southern Nazarene 63-60. ECU is led by head coach Matt Cole, who is 62-64 in five seasons at the school.

- The Tigers are led on the court by senior guard Lakin Preisner, who is the team leader in points (13.3 per game), rebounds (8.5 per game), and assists (2.1 per game). Preisner is the top free throw shooter in the GAC (94 percent), is second in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (50 percent), and is third in the conference in rebounding (8.7 per game).

- ECU boasts the second-best scoring defense in the GAC and has held league opponents to just 62.1 points per game. The Tigers are third in the conference in scoring margin (+7.0) and rebounding margin (+3.4) this season. East Central has not lost to a school from the state of Arkansas yet this season -- GAC member or otherwise.