ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State sees its first GAC defeat of the season after falling to Harding University 83-65.  
 
Ashley Farrar and Abbie Jiles paced the team with 19 and 18 points, respectively. The Reddies shot 38.5 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from beyond the arc while converting 6-14 at the free-throw line. Jiles and Farrar were also the team's leading rebounders, with seven and six, respectively.
 
Henderson State (6-4, 3-1) will break for the holidays and resume action after the new year's when they travel to the Sooner State to take on Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 5:30 p.m.
 
HSU quickly found themselves down 5-0 in the opening minutes of the game, but a Farrar triple and jumper erased the deficit as the Reddies took their first lead of the game, 11-9. The Harding shooters got hot, and the fast pace attack of Henderson made for a high-scoring opening ten minutes. The Lady Bisons led by nine after the buzzer rang, ending the first period 29-20.
 
Harding was able to contain Henderson's offense, knocking them out of rhythm and holding them to nine points in the second period. The Reddies trailed 45-29 heading into the break after a 6-2 run by the Lady Bisons ended the half. HSU shot 37 percent from the field, and 50 percent from beyond the arc as Farrar led the way with nine points.

The third period opened with the two sides trading layups as Harding extended its lead to 51-33. HU continued to build on its advantage with a 9-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 59-34. The Reddies were able to connect on a pair of layups before Farrar closed out the frame with a jumper as Harding led 70-46 heading into the fourth period.    

HSU began the final ten minutes with a 7-0 run, though Harding's advantage would be too much to overcome. The two sides traded points for the last minutes of the game before the buzzer rang.