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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After three straight games on the road, Henderson State returns to the Duke Wells Center for the first time since Jan. 24 to take on Southern Arkansas in the season's second matchup between the two programs. Tip-off for the rematch is set for Saturday, Feb. 5 at 1 p.m.
 
REDDIES REPORT
Henderson comes into Thursday's matchup looking to change the tide on what has been a difficult last couple of weeks. The Reddies have dropped four of their last five games, including three in a row – two of which came against Southern Nazarene. Henderson's one win during that time came against Southeastern Oklahoma St., 76-57.
 
After struggling to shoot the ball, HSU broke through a bit in its last outing, shooting 40% from the field and 36.7% from beyond-the-arc. Unfortunately for them, Oklahoma Baptist shot 45% from the field and 43.5% from long range as the Bison got the best of the Reddies in Shawnee this past Saturday, 79-68.
 
Despite some of the recent struggles, Henderson still ranks among the top-half of the league in several major offensive categories, including scoring offense (78.4 points per game, 3rd), field-goal percentage (43.0, 3rd), three-pointer percentage (34.7, 3rd) and free-throw percentage (71.5, 6th). The HSU offense does lead the GAC in fewest turnovers, averaging a mere 12.8 turnovers per game.
 
Only one game separates fourth-place Oklahoma Baptist and ninth-place Northwestern Oklahoma St. A very convoluted GAC has sixth-place Henderson, Arkansas Tech, East Central and Northwestern all currently 7-7 in league play. With only eight teams making the postseason conference tournament, the Reddies have little room for error the rest of the way, beginning Saturday against Southern Arkansas.
 
In the season's first matchup between HSU and SAU in Magnolia, the Muleriders' current leading scorer Kisi Young went off for 28 points and 10 rebounds. Despite Lani Snowden scoring a career-high 34 points, including going 7-of-9 from beyond-the-arc, Henderson fell in the program's highest scoring game since 2015, 112-99.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
Southern Arkansas is coming off a big road victory against Northwestern Oklahoma State, 72-47, as it held the Lady Rangers to 27.9% shooting from the field and 18.8% from beyond-the-arc. That win came at a crucial time as SAU had lost four of its last five games prior to the matchup with NWOSU.
 
As it has the majority of the year, Southern Arkansas still leads the league in scoring offense, averaging 84.4 points per game. On the other hand, the Muleriders are allowing 81.8 ppg, which is the 2nd most in the league, only behind winless Arkansas-Monticello. Individually, Young gets the Muleriders' offense going, averaging 14.1 ppg while shooting 54.5% from the field.    
 
At 5-9 in conference, the Muleriders remain in the hunt for the postseason as they are only two games out of eighth place, but the road to an extended season begins with a much needed win on Saturday. After Henderson, SAU has its next two games at home, where it is 6-4.
 
What To Watch For…
-Under head coach Jill Thomas, Henderson St. has not lost consecutive home games since the 2017-18 season. A win on Saturday will continue such a streak as, in HSU's last home game, it fell to Southern Nazarene, 66-62.
 
-Lani Snowden has 198 three-pointers in her career. The Van Buren, Arkansas, native only needs two more on Thursday to become only the third Reddie in program history to make 200 career three-pointers, joining Haleigh Henson (293) and Hailey Estes (288).