BETHANY, Okla. – Henderson State battled back and forth with No. 5 Southern Nazarene, but a 7-2 run in the final minute of the game gave the Crimson Storm a 67-62 victory.

The Reddies (13-7, 9-5) shot 32.4 percent for the game and were 8-of-23 from beyond the arc and 8-of-9 at the foul line. HSU won the battle at the glass 41-to-38, led by Makenna Winans, who tallied a team-high 12 rebounds, including five offensive boards.

Brynlee Huggins led the scorers for the red-and-gray with 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the three-point line. Jadah Pickens did it all for HSU, recording 15 points, a team-high five assists and added three steals to her totals. Tori Gittens and JJ Eddens combined for 15 points, while Winans saw six.

HSU and SNU both opened the game shooting from deep, as back-to-back triples by Huggins gave the Reddies a 6-3 advantage. The Crimson Storm grabbed the lead on a 5-0 run and held a three-point edge at the first media break, 13-10. A three-minute scoring drought for HSU out of the break saw SNU extend its advantage after the timeout to 19-10 on a 6-0 burst. Two shots at the free-throw line by Pickens and a jumper from Winans cut SNU's edge to 21-14 at the end of the quarter.

Two three-pointers from Gittens and Huggins in the first half of the second period cut the Crimson Storm's lead to one, 23-22. A pair of baskets for Southern Nazarene grew its lead to 25-22 and later 31-24. Pickens trimmed SNU's advantage to five points before the Crimson Storm made it a seven-point game again just seconds later. Both sides failed to find the basket in the quarter's final two minutes and ten seconds, as Southern Nazarene carried a 33-26 lead into the halftime break.

Triples by Huggins and Gittens to start the second half made it a three-point game with 7:06 left in the third period. Henderson continued to chip away at the Crimson Storm's lead with 8-0 run, which would eventually give the red-and-gray a 42-39 lead. SNU made it a one-point game at the free-throw line, but a jumper from Eddnes and a three-pointer by Gittens kept the Reddies in front by two, 47-45, through three quarters.

A cagey start to the final stanza would see the first points come at 7:16 in the period after Southern Nazarene tied the game 47-all. Neither side could find separation for the next two minutes as the score was tied 49-49 and later 52-52. Just as SNU thought they had the lead 55-53, Winans converted two shots at the foul line to knot the game up 55-55. The Crimson Storm found a breakthrough on a 5-0 burst to go ahead by five, 62-57. A three-point play by Pickens brought it to a two-point game, but Southern Nazarene went 5-of-6 at the charity stripe to grab the win. 

Henderson State (13-7, 9-5) returns home to host No. 23 Northwestern Oklahoma State inside the Duke Wells Center on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m.