RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – It was a tale of two halves for Henderson State as the Reddies came up short in Russellville on Saturday afternoon against the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns, 89-80.
 
Henderson shot just 30.6% from the field in the second half compared to 44.4% in the first. Arkansas Tech shot a blistering 51.4% in the second half after shooting just 41.7% in the first.
 
The contest began with an 8-0 run from the visiting Reddies, starting with one of Jadah Pickens' four threes on the day. HSU kept it going to see its biggest lead of the game at 17-4 early on in the first quarter. After one, Henderson State led 25-16 while shooting 50% from the field. Lani Snowden contributed eight of her 15 points in the opening frame.
 
Arkansas Tech frequented the free throw line often in the second, cashing in on seven of eight attempts. Despite ATU taking a brief lead shortly before halftime, HSU came back with 6-0 run to go up at the break 45-42 thanks in large part to Pickens' 11 points and five assists from Maci Mains. The Reddies shot an incredible 53% from beyond-the-arc in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
Arkansas Tech came out a seemingly different team in the second half as the Golden Suns connected on six-straight field goals to take the lead. Snowden stopped the run with a jumper to cut it to 61-57 before the media timeout. HSU then responded by going 3-for-3 on field goals while Tech went an ice cold 0-6, bringing the score to 65-63 in favor of the Golden Suns. The third quarter ended with Arkansas Tech's Hannah Villines hitting a buzzer-beater three to put the home team up 70-65 going into the final period.
 
Henderson's Karrington Whaley committed her fourth foul 39 seconds into the fourth quarter, forcing coach Thomas' hand in having to sit her star forward for the majority of the final 10 minutes.
 
Arkansas Tech took advantage, going on an 8-0 run to open the final period. In response, the Reddies went cold, failing to score a single point until the 5:38 mark of the period when Snowden connected on two free throws to put an end to the drought. The damage was done, however, as Tech gradually pulled away to win it, 89-80. ATU's Kaley Shipman scored a game-high 23 points while pulling down seven rebounds.
 
Pickens led all Henderson State scorers with a career-high 21 points, including going 4-9 from deep. Last game's hero Maci Mains ended her day with a full stat sheet, as she contributed six points, five rebounds and seven assists. Sophomore Ashley Farrar added 12 points on 5-8 shooting in her season debut.   
 
Henderson State, now 1-1, will head to Searcy, Arkansas to take on the Harding Lady Bisons Thursday, Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Bisons are currently sitting at 0-1 after having their home-opener postponed.