COVERAGE LINKS I GAME NOTES
 
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State welcomes the East Central Tigers to the Duke Wells Center on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 1 p.m.
 
REDDIES REPORT (9-6, 5-4)
It was a historic night for Henderson State on Thursday, as Ashley Farrar became the program's leading scorer in the win over Southeastern Oklahoma State. Farrar now holds the scoring title with 1659 career points after seeing a team-high 23 against the Savage Storm. The Green Forest, Ark. native has three 20-point games in the last four contests and is now the second-highest scorer in the league, averaging 18.7 points per game.
 
Makenna Winans made important free throws down the stretch against SE in the third and fourth periods on her way to a season-high 13 points – all coming in the second half. The Parkersburg, W. Va. native led the team with a season-best 15 rebounds, including a game-high six offensive boards. Winans ranks 17^th in the conference in rebounding, averaging 5.5 per game, and is joined by Bobbi Bazzle, who is 15th with 5.7 boards per game. 
 
While being the third highest-scoring team in the GAC, the Reddies rank middle of the pack in field percentage (7th), converting 39.5 percent from the floor. HSU is the only team in the top five in scoring to not feature in the top 5 in field goal percentage. Henderson has balanced this out with its three-point (35.4) and free-throw (76.1) shooting percentages, ranking first and second, respectively. In the last three games, 58.6 percent (122) of HSU's 208 points have come from the free-throw and three-point line.
 
Henderson swept East Central last year in the season series for the first time since 2020 and just the second time since 2018. The Reddies have seen more success against the Tigers in the last ten meetings with a 7-3 record but trails ECU 12-14 all-time. Henderson and East Central have played each other close at the Duke Wells Center, as three of the last five games have been decided by eight or fewer points.
 
SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL (5-8, 1-8)
East Central fell to Ouachita Baptist 64-55 on Thursday night and is now 1-8 in conference play and 5-8 overall. The Tiger's lone GAC win this season was against Arkansas-Monticello on Jan. 11, when ECU defeated the Blossoms 49-45. Playing away from home has not favored the Tigers this year, as they are just 1-4 on the road after their loss to OUA.
 
Mackenzie Crusoe played all 40 minutes against OUA and recorded a team-high 18 points on 41.6 percent shooting from the field. The senior guard paces the team in scoring with 16.2 points per game and ranks sixth in scoring across the GAC. Crusoe also provides a strong presence at the glass for ECU with a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game, which is sixth-best among the conference. In addition, the senior leads the GAC with 2.8 steals per game and had four against Ouachita Baptist.  
 
Scoring has not come easy for the Tigers this season, ranking 12^th in scoring offense with 59.7 points per game after being held to 55 last time out. ECU has been held to 50 or less points twice in the last five games and have only reached 60 just once. On the other end, East Central is solid defensively, giving up the fourth-fewest points per game (60.4), and is holding teams to 37.5 percent shooting from the field.