ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State suffered its first home loss of the season as East Central came into the Duke Wells Center and left with the 76-71 victory. Prior to the night, HSU was 6-0 at home while ECU was 0-5 on the road.
 
Karrington Whaley scored 20 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter, as she secured her 1000th point of her career. The night marked Whaley's second 20-point game of the season and her first since early December. The Springdale, Arkansas, native also secured six rebounds as she is now fourth all-time in program history with 732.
 
The first quarter saw seven lead changes as neither team held more than a three point through the opening 10 minutes. The Tigers held their biggest lead of the early going with 1:20 to go as it looked like ECU would into quarter break with the lead. A personal 3-0 run from Mains tied the game at 17-17.
 
With two early fouls in the opening quarter on Farrar, the two-time GAC Player of the Week did not play at all in the second. The game remained tight, however, even building a short-lived four-point lead with just over three minutes remaining in the half.
 
After a three-pointer from ECU gave them a one-point lead, a trey from Lani Snowden gave the Reddies a two-point lead heading to the locker room. East Central shot 40% from the field while Henderson shot a comparable 35.7%, reflected by the 31-29 tally.
 
The Tigers opened the second half on a 9-0 run and kept the lead the rest of the third frame, opening the lead to nine on two separate occasions. The best free-throw shooting team in the GAC went 7-of-8 from the free-throw line as ECU went into the final period ahead 51-47.
 
With the Reddies closing on a 4-0 run, a bit of life was breathed into the Duke Wells Center as three more points to open the final frame cut the deficit to one, 51-50. From that point on, East Central went on a back-breaking 12-0 run, 10 of which came at the charity stripe.
 
After a couple consecutive buckets from HSU, with the score reading 67-59, Henderson put together a quick five-run spurt at its attempt at a ferocious comeback, but free-throw shooting from the visiting Tigers kept the Reddies at bay, 76-71.
 
Henderson St. (11-5, 6-4) will return to the Duke Wells Center Saturday when the Southeastern Oklahoma St. Savage Storm come to Arkadelphia at 1 p.m.