ADA, Okla. — Hot first half shooting helped Henderson State build a big lead that it never relinquished on Saturday, as the Reddies snapped East Central's five-game winning streak 73-58 at the Kerr Activities Center.

Henderson led 21-15 after one quarter thanks to 10 early points from Pink Jones. The Reddies began to assert themselves in the second, where they held the Tigers to just 25% shooting and out-scored them 22-13 to take a commanding 43-28 lead into the break. HSU shot 51.6% from the floor in the first 20 minutes and was 7-of-14 from 3-point range.

The lead grew to as many as 19 points with 5:34 left in the third quarter for HSU, but a big 13-0 run from East Central in the final five minutes of the period helped the Tigers trim the lead down to just 57-52 heading into the fourth. Henderson was held scoreless for the final 4:37 of the period.

After watching their lead whittled down to just five, the Reddies answered with a run of their own to begin the final quarter. HSU scored the first 10 points of the period to reestablish a double-digit advantage, 67-52 with 7:14 to go. The big response took the wind out of the sails for ECU, who shot just 3-for-15 in the game's last 10 minutes, and helped Henderson close it out with ease, 73-58.

Pink Jones was dominant in her final regular season game and finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Fellow seniors Blu Jones and Hailey Estes added 11 points each to round out the double figure scorers for the Reddies. Henderson out-rebounded ECU 43-31 in the win and held the Tigers to just 33.9% shooting from the floor. 

HSU has clinched the No. 5 seed for the GAC Tournament in Bartlesville, Oklahoma next week and will take on the No. 4 seed Southern Nazarene at 5:45 p.m. on Friday.