COVERAGE LINKS I GAME NOTES
 
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State looks to extend its win streak when they head across Highway 67 to face rivals Ouachita Baptist in the Battle of the Ravine. Tip-off between the Reddies and Tigers is set for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25, inside the Bill Vining Arena.
 
REDDIES REPORT
Henderson State (10-6, 6-4) has won four out of its last five games and is on a two-game win streak with its most recent win over East Central. Good defense was key in the victory, as the Reddies held ECU under its season average in points and limited the Tigers to 26.6 percent shooting from the field and 23.5 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Ashley Farrar picked up her second GAC Player of the Week honor after scoring 45 points across the two games last week, including a team-high 22 points in the win over ECU. The Green Forest, Ark. native has seen the basket well in the previous three games, averaging 22.3 points and shooting 48.7 percent (19-39) over this stretch. Farrar helps lead the third-best scoring offense in the GAC (72.6 ppg) with 18.9 points per game.
 
The Reddies dominated the glass against ECU, outrebounding the Tigers 52-to-32 for the team's second-highest rebound margin this season (+20). HSU had five players record five or more boards, led by Makenna Winans, who grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. The Oral Roberts transfer has 24 rebounds in the last two games while averaging 5.5 boards on the year, which is second to Bobbi Bazzle's 5.8 rebounds.
 
Through 16 games, the Reddies are converting 39.4 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from the three-point line. HSU is the fourth-best rebounding team in the league, averaging 39.9 boards per game, and has denied the second most shots of any team with 75 blocks. Winans leads the team with 18 blocks and ranks third on the GAC leaderboard in total blocks, while Farrar and Tori Gittens also rank inside the top 20 with 11 and nine blocks, respectively.
 
Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist will meet for the first time since the Reddies fell to OUA in the first round of the 2022-23 GAC Tournament. This is the 91^st meeting between the two sides as HSU holds the slight edge in the series 49-42. However, it has been the Tigers who have seen the most recent success with four wins in the last six games.
 
SCOUTING OUACHITA BAPTIST
Ouachita Baptist split last week's games, picking up a win over East Central on Thursday 64-55 before falling to Southeastern Oklahoma State 60-55. The Tigers have lost three of their last four league games after beginning GAC play 4-1 and are now 5-5 in the conference and 7-7 overall.
 
OUA had three players reach double-digit points against Southeastern, led by Grayson Fairless, who recorded 16 points on 50.0 percent shooting. Fairless is one of three players averaging ten or more points, with 10.0 points per game, while Laney Mears leads the scoring with 13.9 points. The Tigers are averaging 65.1 points per game, but in the last four games, OUA has only reached its season average just once in the win over East Central.  
 
The Reddies will have to protect the ball against Ouachita Baptist, as the Tigers are producing the third most turnovers per game (20.4) and are scoring 18.3 points in transition. Only two other teams are averaging more points than OUA from turnovers this season. Mears helps lead the defensive efforts with the third most steals per game (2.6) and fifth in total steals with 27 on the year.