ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Behind Jadah Pickens' season-high 20 points, the Henderson State Reddies toughed out a must-needed win over the Northwestern Oklahoma State Lady Rangers inside the Duke Wells Center Saturday afternoon, 87-78, avenging their loss earlier this year in the season's first matchup in Alva, Oklahoma.
 
Pickens, who finished just one point shy of matching her career high, went 6-for-10 from the field, 2-3 from deep and 6-8 from the free-throw line. The sophomore from Conway, Arkansas, also pulled down seven rebounds. Ashley Farrar came through with 15 points, while Karrington Whaley occupied the back-end of the trio with 14 points.
 
Lani Snowden came into the afternoon contest with 993 career points. After registering eight points on the afternoon, she eclipsed 1000 points for her career, joining Whaley from this season's squad, who reached the millennium mark back on Jan. 20 against East Central.  
 
Henderson opened the game with a three-pointer from Farrar followed by Snowden lay-up as HSU scored the first five points. Despite the early lead and an eventual eight-point advantage had by the home team, the first quarter showed three ties.
 
Northwestern refused to go away when facing a deficit through the first 10 minutes as one of those ties sent the game into the second period, 20-20. Henderson's Pickens hit a three with 42 seconds left before NWOSU's Carly Craig responded with a trey of her own with 20 seconds as it would be one of those back-and-forth contests.
 
Back-to-back three pointers from Maci Mains and Pickens, sandwiching a Lady Ranger jumper, is how the second stanza began. With a Farrar jumper to follow, HSU built another six-point lead, 28-22, before Northwestern cut the lead down to two once again with a run of its own, 32-30.
 
The Lady Rangers continued to fight until they finally broke through when a lay-up from NWOSU's Scout Frame gave Northwestern its first lead of the game as HSU went to the locker room facing its first deficit of the opening 20 minutes, 39-38. Henderson St. shot 48.3% from the field while the Lady Rangers shot 56% with both teams making 14 shots in the opening half.
 
The third quarter saw three lead changes overall and five ties in the final 5:20 of the period. A Lady Ranger three-pointer opened NWOSU's lead to four, 42-38, a mere 17 seconds into the frame before a 7-0 HSU run delivered the lead back to the Reddies, 45-42.
 
With timely triples from the visiting team, Northwestern held a four-point lead on two other occasions before eight straight points from Whaley in a span of a minute and a half down the stretch once again gave Henderson the lead, 59-57. One final tie was to be hand in the third at 59-59 before a Farrar trey with three seconds left put the home team up by three heading into the final quarter.
 
When Jill Thomas' squad needed it most, the Reddie defense made some adjustments and put the clamps on the Lady Rangers, turning defense into offense through the entire final 10 minutes as HSU saw its greatest advantage of the game in the fourth frame, 25-19.
 
Terrific free-throw shooting down the stretch, which included the Reddies making six straight freebies courtesy of Pickens, Gracie Raby and Abbie Jiles, allowed HSU to build a double-digit lead 2:59 remaining in regulation, 79-69. Key buckets from Pickens kept Northwestern from making any kind of comeback as Henderson claimed the 87-78 victory.
 
The high-octane offense that Reddie fans have come to expect from its women's basketball program over the course of this season showed up today as HSU saw 18 fast break points compared to four for NWOSU. Henderson's defense also allowed the Reddies to outscore the Lady Rangers in points off turnovers, 17-3.      
 
Henderson St. (14-10, 9-9) will go on its final Oklahoma regular season road trip of the season when it takes on Southeastern Oklahoma St. in Durant, Oklahoma, Thursday, Feb. 17 at 5:30 before heading to Ada, Oklahoma, to face the Tigers of East Central Saturday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m.