GAME COVERAGE LINKS
 
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – With 2021 winding down, Henderson State will play its second-to-last home game before Christmas against the early conference-leading Arkansas Tech Golden Suns for its third GAC contest of the season Saturday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. inside the Duke Wells Center.
 
REDDIES REPORT
The Reddies are coming off their first conference loss of the season in what was the highest scoring Henderson women's basketball game since 2015 as Southern Arkansas won in Magnolia, 112-99. Henderson got a career-high 34 points from Lani Snowden, including a staggering 7-of-9 from long range.
 
Snowden is seeing absurd efficiency numbers through the first seven games of the 2021-22 season. The fifth-year senior is shooting 51.5% (34-66) from the field, 54.5% (18-33) from beyond-the-arc, and 88.9% (8-9) from the free-throw line. The Van Buren, Arkansas, native is Top-10 in each category throughout the league, including being second with her three-pointer numbers.   
 
Henderson has five players averaging double-digit scoring, led by Ashley Farrar with 16.6 points per game. The Reddies are only one of four teams in the GAC to have three players among the Top-25 in individual scoring (Farrar, Snowden, Gracie Raby). Karrington Whaley is 29th with 10.9 ppg.
 
Saturday's matchup will feature two evenly-matched teams according to scoring trends thus far. Henderson is registering 81.6 points per game while holding its opponents to 68.6 ppg. On the other side, Arkansas Tech is seeing 79.2 ppg while limiting its opponents to 67.2 ppg. Both offenses rank Top-5 in the GAC.
 
In the last meeting in Arkadelphia, HSU upset then-No. 14 ATU, 90-86, behind 18 points from Maci Mains and 17 from Snowden. The Reddies have won four consecutive games against the Golden Suns inside the Duke Wells Center.
 
SCOUTING ARKANSAS TECH
Arkansas Tech comes into this season with similar motivation as Henderson with its season cut short prematurely due to Covid-19 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Six games into the 2021-22 season has the Golden Suns 5-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
 
Each of ATU's conference wins this season have been by single-digits, including a 72-66 victory over Arkansas-Monticello in its last outing. Sophomore guard Kaley Shipman helped the Golden Suns stave off the upset with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Tech got its biggest advantage in the paint where it outscored the Blossoms, 44-24.
 
The Golden Suns boast two of the best scorers in the GAC in Ashlei Lopez (19.0 points per game) and Shipman (18.5 ppg). Both players are shooting north of 43% from the field while Shipman is knocking down triples at a 40.6% clip (13-32).    
 
What To Watch For…
-In true regular season games, the home team has won eight of the last nine meetings. The last time the road team won this matchup came in 2018 and the last time HSU lost as the home team was 2017.
 
-After her seven-three-pointer performance against Southern Arkansas, Lani Snowden (171) now sits just two shy of tying Linda Lyle (173) for third most made three-pointers in program history. The last time HSU and Tech faced off, Snowden knocked down three treys.