ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After shooting 45.2 percent in the first half, the Reddies converted only 23.7 percent of their shots in the final twenty minutes as Henderson State fell to No. 18 Northwestern Oklahoma State 71-63.
 
HSU (13-8, 9-6)  had four players reach double-figure points, led by Jadah Pickens with 17 points, followed by Tori Gittens (13) and Ashley Farrar (11). Makenna Winans was one rebound shy of a double-double, with ten points and nine boards on 5-of-5 shooting from the field. The Reddies shot 33.3 percent from the field for the game and 23.5 percent from beyond the arc, while NWOSU won the battle at the glass 42-to-35.
 
A triple and jumper by Gittens gave Henderson the early advantage before a 7-0 burst from the Lady Rangers saw NWOSU go in front 11-5. Four straight points from Pickens and a layup by Farrar at 4:53 tied the game 11-all heading into the media break. Farrar gave HSU the lead, converting a free throw as part of a three-point play to put HSU on top 12-11. Northwestern Oklahoma State soon regained the lead, but it would be all HSU for the last three minutes. A 9-0 burst that featured four points from Winans and a triple for Sam Basson gave HSU a 23-17 edge at the end of the quarter.
 
A back-and-forth start to the second stanza began with two consecutive baskets from Winans and a three-pointer from Gittens to stretch HSU's lead to 30-23. Farrar added to the red-and-grey's advantage with a layup moments before Pickens knocked down a three-pointer to extend Henderson's edge to 37-28. A two-minute scoring drought from both sides was broken by a triple by Gittens at 1:58 in the period to give the Reddies its largest lead of the half, 40-30. The Landy Rangers grabbed a late basket just before the buzzer, with Henderson leading 40-32 at halftime.
 
A fast start by NWOSU, combined with three HSU turnovers, would see the Lady Ranger trim Henderson's lead to three on an 8-3 run, 43-40. The Reddies were held scoreless for five minutes and nine seconds after Farrar began the quarter with a three-pointer at 9:11 in the period. Six straight points from Pickens broke the drought and pushed Henderson in front by nine. Winans and Gittens added to the team's score to give HSU a 53-46 advantage after three periods of play.  
 
A Brynlee Huggins three-pointer to start the final stanza made it an eight point game, but NWOSU battled back on a 8-0 run to tie the contest 56-all. The two sides traded leads after a Farrar triple and Northwestern 6-0, which gave the Lady Rangers a 64-61 lead. The Reddies trailed by three with thirty-eight seconds remaining in the quarter, but the Lady Rangers were efficient down the stretch at the free-throw line, converting 5-of-6 shots to grab the win.
 
Henderson State (13-8, 9-6) remains at the Duke Wells Center for a meeting with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 1 p.m.