ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State opens its home stretch of games with a 69-56 win over the Riverhawks of Northeastern State to improve to 3-1 on the year. 
 
HSU shot 40.8 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from the three-point line for the game, while Northeastern State held just 19 baskets and 22 turnovers. Pacing the Reddies offense, Oliva Allen recorded a team-high 17 points on 83.3 percent shooting from the floor, while Ashley Farrar and JJ Eddens had 14 and 10 points, respectively. Additionally, Eddens also led the team in rebounds with 6 of the team's 32 rebounds.
 
A defensive struggle in the opening period saw the Reddies trailing 3-1 after the first three and a half minutes. A pair of HSU three-pointers by Tori Gittens and Farrar cut the deficit to one 8-7. NSU replied with a 7-0 burst to grow its advantage to 15-7, but two trips to the free-throw line by Allen and a made layup by Eddens had Henderson behind 16-15 after the first ten minutes.
 
An early triple for Allen in the second quarter tied it at 18 all before Eddens and Gittens added to the score to give Henderson its first lead of the game, 22-18. Allen had the hot hand for the next two minutes, making back-to-back baskets to grow the Reddies' advantage to 26-21. HSU closed out the second period on a 9-2 run capped off by a three-pointer by Sam Basson to give the red and gray a 37-27 lead at halftime.
 
Allen led the Reddies at the break with 11 points, shooting 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line, while Gittens saw seven points and a steal. As a team, Henderson shot 42.9 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc in the first half.
 
HSU opened the scoring in the second half with a layup by Allen to stretch the lead to 40-27. A pair of baskets for NSU cut the deficit to under ten points, but a three from Natalie Cardenas and two made free-throws by Farrar reestablished a 14-point gap, 45-31. The Reddies kept in front for the final four minutes as Farrar sank a three-pointer just before the end of the period to give HSU a 51-40 edge heading into the last stanza.
 
Farrar kept up the scoring, converting three shots from the free-throw line to start the fourth quarter before Jadah Pickens made her third basket of the game. A four-minute scoreless stretch by the Reddies saw Northeastern State climb back into the game on a 5-0 run as HSU led 62-56. Needing a stop, the Henderson defense tightened up and held the Riverhawks scoreless for the final two minutes of the contest to secure a 69-56 win.
 
HSU (3-1) will host Pittsburg State in its next game on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. in the Duke Wells Center.