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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The wait is over for the Henderson State women's basketball team as it will break its 10-month hiatus when it plays host to the Southern Arkansas Muleriders on Thursday, Jan. 7. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m. inside the Duke Wells Center.
REDDIES REPORT
- Henderson State has won the last five meetings between the two programs, including Henderson's narrow 79-72 victory in Magnolia last year. HSU's last loss to SAU came back in 2018. The Reddies are 12-7 all-time against the Muleriders in GAC play.
- Henderson loses two of its top three leading scorers from last year's seven-point triumph to graduation. HSU retains leading scorer Lani Snowden, who shot 10-of-17 from the field – 5-of-11 from deep – for 25 points. The Reddies also return senior Karrington Whaley. Whaley enters this season as the leading scorer for HSU after averaging 12.6 points per game last year.
- Along with seniors Snowden and Whaley, junior Maci Mains will be called on heavily to bring veteran leadership to a team who is rostering five new players plus redshirt freshman Sonni Martin. Mains was third on last year's team with 11.9 points per game while pacing the squad with a 75% free throw percentage.
- The Reddies enter 2021 on the heels of a semifinal berth in the Great American Conference Tournament. HSU finished its 2019-20 campaign 20-10 overall to secure its second 20-win season in the last three years.
-Henderson State was tabbed to finish third in the Eastern Division in the GAC preseason poll at the beginning of the year. Also picked to finish third in a tie with HSU were the Muleriders of Southern Arkansas.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
- The Muleriders come in very experienced, returning all four of their leading scorers from a year ago. Kisi Young led the scoring for SAU against Henderson in the last meeting with 16 points while also snagging seven rebounds.
- Southern Arkansas is coming off a 17-12 season where it saw its best record under third-year head coach Adam Collins and best since 2015-2016, despite dropping four of its final six regular season games to close out 2019. That effort earned the Muleriders their first trip to the GAC Championship since 2016.
- Southern Arkansas went 7-6 on the road last year. The last time these two teams met, HSU turned the ball over 28 times. The Muleriders led the GAC in turnovers forced last season with a staggering 26.8 per game, and finished second in the league in turnover margin (+5.03).
