BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Henderson State got a terrific performance from Karrington Whaley, but shot just 27.8 percent from the floor in the second half and fell to No. 4 seed Harding 63-54 in the first round of the Great American Conference Tournament on Friday.

After trailing 14-12 through the first quarter, Henderson (18-11) put together a big run to start the second, as six-straight from Pink Jones and five from Lani Snowden powered an 11-0 run and gave HSU its largest lead of the game, 23-14, with five minutes until halftime.

Harding quickly closed the gap and used a 14-5 response of its own to knot the score 28-28 at the break. Momentum continued to swing the Lady Bisons' way in the third, when they shot 57.8 percent and out-scored the Reddies 22-12 in the period to carry a 50-39 lead into the fourth.

The Reddies refused to go away, and mounted a rally in the final 10 minutes, as two 3-pointers from Blu Jones and two buckets from Whaley fueled a 10-2 run which trimmed the deficit down to just 52-49 with 4:50 remaining. It was not to be for Henderson, however, as Harding answered with four-straight baskets to seize the upper hand down the stretch and hold on for the win.  

Whaley was excellent in a match-up against Harding's First Team All-GAC Center Kellie Lampo, and finished with 16 points on 8-for-9 shooting, eight rebounds, and four blocks to lead the Reddies. Whaley held Lampo to just 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Blu Jones added 12 points for HSU on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.

Outside of Jones and Whaley, Henderson's starters were just 7-of-28 from the field in the game. The Reddies forced 14 Lady Bisons' turnovers in the contest while committing just 13, but Harding out-scored HSU 19-7 off of those miscues.

The loss concludes the 2018-19 season for Henderson. The Reddies return all five starters from this year's team in 2019-2020.