ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State plays the second game of its two-game Oklahoma road trip Saturday, Jan. 29 against the Oklahoma Baptist Bison in what will be the second contest of the season between the two teams. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside the Noble Complex in Shawnee.
 
REDDIES REPORT
Part one of the two-game road trip ended in a 63-41 loss to Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Oklahoma, Thursday evening. Karrington Whaley led all Reddies with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 1-2 at the free-throw line and registering two blocks. As Whaley was the only player for HSU to score in double-figures, Maci Mains followed with nine points.
 
The GAC's leading field-goal percentage team has not seen its usual success shooting the ball as of late. The season 44.2% shooting squad has shot less than 38% from the field in three of their last four games and under 28% from beyond-the-arc in two of the last four contests. In games this season that the Reddies have shot under 40%, they are 1-5.
 
Leading-scorer Ashley Farrar is fifth in the conference with 16.9 points per game and is seeing her best season from the free-throw line of her career, shooting a league-eighth-best 83% from the charity stripe. Whaley also finds herself towards the top of the GAC leaders in regards to rebounding and field-goal percentage, claiming 8.2 rebounds per game (3rd) and 64.4 (1st) average, respectively.       
 
After losing three of its last four games, Henderson has found itself fighting to remain in the top-half of the GAC standings. Now 7-6 in league play, HSU is fifth and is tied with Arkansas Tech, Northwestern Oklahoma St. and Oklahoma Baptist, who are all also 7-6. The Reddies defeated Tech and OKBU earlier this season in the season's first matchups while falling to NWOSU.
 
In the season's first meeting with the Bison, four HSU players scored in double-digits, led by Gracie Raby with 20 points. The Reddies as a team shot 45.8% from the field and held a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter before OKBU staged a furious comeback to force overtime. Henderson outscored Oklahoma Baptist 17-3 in the extra time to take the 94-80 victory.  
 
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
Oklahoma Baptist is coming off a thrilling overtime victory over HSU's arch-rival Ouachita Baptist, 90-86. The Bison faced an 11-point deficit nearly halfway through the fourth quarter before mounting the comeback, forcing extra time, and coming away with the win. Leading-scorer Kalifa Ford tallied 35 points and Kennedy Large registered 18 points off the bench.
 
After only winning three conference games all of last year, Oklahoma Baptist has more than doubled that total so far this season, having won four of its last five GAC contests. Two of those wins include defeating Southern Nazarene in Bethany and Southern Arkansas in Magnolia, two places HSU has lost this season.
 
The Bison as a team are fifth in the league in scoring defense (67.4 ppg) and three-pointer percentage defense (29.6%). The last three losses for the Reddies have come against teams that rank Top-3 in overall defense. On the offensive end, Oklahoma Baptist does boast one of the best deep threats in the league in Mallory Lockhart, who is making an average of 2.9 treys per game.