ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — After two big wins, Henderson State will look to carry momentum into a matchup with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Both the Reddies and the Lady Bulldogs come into Thursday's contest 12-6 in the GAC along with Southern Nazarene. Southeastern Oklahoma and Harding are tied for first place at 13-5.
REDDIES REPORT
- Henderson State (17-7, 12-6) knocked down its first five 3-point attempts of the game in the win over Harding and finished 7-of-9 from long distance in the first quarter. HSU put the game out of reach with an 8-0 run to start the third quarter and led by as many as 18 points.
- The Reddies were led by Lani Snowden, Hailey Estes and Karrington Whaley, who combined to score 62 of HSU's 88 points. Snowden finished with 22 while Estes and Whaley poured in 20 to mark the first time this season that three Reddies have scored 20 points or more in the same game.
- Whaley's 20 points catapulted her to the GAC Player of the Week Award. In two victories over Ouachita Baptist and Harding, the junior averaged 17 points on 15-of-17 shooting, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks. Whaley leads the conference in field goal percentage (57.7%).
- Snowden did most of her damage against Harding from the outside and finished 6-of-9 from 3-point range. Her six 3-point field goals were a single game career-high. At 46.6% shooting from beyond the arc, Snowden is second in the GAC and ninth in Division II in 3-point percentage.
- Estes' 20 points marked the fifth time this season and the 16th time in her career that the senior has scored 20 or more. Estes also continued her domination on the glass, pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds. Estes has double-digit rebounds in six of her last seven games. The Conway native grabbed a career-high 19 boards in the first meeting against SWOSU on Jan. 11.
- Henderson's defense and been stifling over the last three games. The Reddies have held opponents to 38.2% shooting from the field and just 22.9% from 3-point range. For the season, HSU is allowing conference foes to shoot just 38.1% which is good for second in the league.
HENDERSON STATE MILESTONE WATCH
- Hailey Estes needs eight rebounds to pass Hailey Tucker for third on the GAC's all-time rebounding list.
- Lani Snowden needs four 3-point field goals to pass Bridget Brown for eighth on Henderson's 3-point field goals list.
- Karrington Whaley needs two blocks to become the second player in HSU History to record 100 rejections in a career.
SCOUTING SWOSU
- Southwestern Oklahoma State (17-7, 12-6) reached the NCAA Division II Championship game last season behind seniors Hailey Tucker and Hayden Priddy. This season, the Lady Bulldogs are paced by the frontrunner for GAC Freshman of the Year Makyra Tramble, who earned a spot in the starting lineup in late January. Since entering the starting five, Tramble is averaging 19.8 points per game. In the last three contests she has elevated her play even further, scoring 24 points per game on 48% shooting.
- The Lady Bulldogs depend on their ability to dominate the turnover battle. Southwestern forces opponents into 21.7 turnovers per contest for a +8.7 turnover margin. The second best margin in the GAC is held by Southern Arkansas who holds a +2.2 turnover margin. In the season's first meeting, SWOSU finished +11 in the turnover battle, forcing HSU into 20 giveaways while the Bulldogs committed just nine.
- Despite ranking 10th out of 12 teams in 3-point field goal shooting percentage at 31.6%, Southwestern is not shy about firing from long range. The Lady Bulldogs have taken 550 3-pointers this season, 108 more than Henderson State, who has taken the second-most threes. The Lady Bulldogs made 11 shots from behind the arc against HSU in the first meeting between the teams.
