ALVA, Okla. — A tough-shooting second quarter hurt Henderson State on Saturday as the Reddies fell on the road to Northwestern Oklahoma State 74-54.

Henderson (17-9, 12-8) trailed 17-12 after 10 minutes to the Lady Rangers, but the second quarter was where things unraveled for the Reddies, as NWOSU outscored HSU 24-7 in the frame to take a commanding 41-19 lead at halftime.

The Lady Rangers (12-15, 9-11) hit on a scorching 54.2 percent of their attempts from the floor in the first 20 minutes, while the Reddies shot just 30 percent and were 0-for-12 from beyond the arc.

HSU tried to climb back into the game in the third, where the Reddies outscored NWOSU 22-14 to cut the deficit down to 14 points on two different occasions.

It was not to be for Henderson, though, as the Lady Rangers never allowed HSU to trim the lead to single digits and ran away in the fourth for a win that clinched their spot in the GAC Tournament. 

Pink Jones led HSU with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor. Henderson was just 4-for-25 from the 3-point line — its second-lowest mark of the year from distance.

Fouls hurt the Reddies in the game, as they were called for 27, which led to the Lady Rangers going 26-for-29 at the line. NWOSU only fouled 13 times all afternoon, allowing Henderson just 11 attempts from the stripe on the day.

HSU returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 28, when the Reddies host Southeastern Oklahoma State at 5:30 p.m. in the Duke Wells Center.