MAGNOLIA, Ark. – After a back-and-forth 40 minutes of action, Henderson State falls late in the fourth period 61-55 to the Southern Arkansas Muleriders inside the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.
 
Ashley Farrar, Olivia Allen and Natalie Cardenas led the scoring with ten points apiece, followed by Bobbi Bazzle, who saw a season-high eight points. Farrar recorded her first double-double of the season, adding a team-high 11 rebounds to her totals, while Bazzle had ten. The Reddies shot 34.9 percent from the field and struggled from deep, finishing 5-of-27. Henderson outrebounded the Muleriders 56-34, but SAU would win the turnover battle 14-28.
 
A chaotic start to the first period saw eight turnovers in the first three and half minutes as HSU led the Muleriders 4-2 with 6:31 left in the quarter. SAU retook the lead after opening the scoring with a triple, but the Reddies replied with a three-pointer of their own from Brynlee Huggins to keep Henderson ahead 7-5. A 7-0 burst by Southern Arkansas put the Muleriders back in front as the Reddies trailed 15-14 at the end of the quarter.
 
Bazzle and Allen combined at the start of the second period, with the pair making back-to-back layups to give HSU the lead 18-15. Farrar knocked down her first three-pointer of the game, sparking a 7-0 run and stretching the Reddies' edge to 25-17. The Muleriders battled back to get within four, but a triple by Cardenas kept it a multi-possession game. Points were a premium in the final three and a half minutes as HSU led 30-25 heading into halftime.
 
Southern Arkansas took the lead in the opening two and a half minutes of the third period on an 8-2 run. The Reddies would tie the score 38 all on a triple from Allen and later take the lead heading into the fourth period after Cardenas made a layup with thirty seconds left, 42-41.
 
Similar to the start of the third period, SAU grabbed the lead on a 4-0 run as HSU struggled to get the offense going after finding its first basket from open play with 4:51 left in the game, which put the Reddies back on top 47-46. From there, Southern Arkansas did most of its damage from the free-throw line, going 11-of-12 at the charity stripe in the final three and half minutes to secure a 61-55 victory.
 
Henderson State (4-3, 0-1) returns to the Duke Wells Center on Saturday, Dec. 2, where they will host Arkansas-Monticello at 1 p.m.