HSU women set program record, prep for Golden Suns
ARKADELPHIA — With big games from Hailey Estes and Bree Bossier, Henderson State managed to hold on to defeat Arkansas-Monticello 80-65 Thursday at the Duke Wells Center, claiming its 14th Great American Conference win of the year to set a program record.
Henderson State (18-6, 14-4) held just a four-point lead at the half, 31-27, and it kept the buffer for much of the third frame before, with a six-point lead and a minute remaining, the Reddies got backto-back 3-pointers from Lani Snowden and Haleigh Henson to increase their advantage to 54-42 going into the fourth period.
The Cotton Blossoms (7-16, 3-15) continued to push against Henderson in the fourth, reducing the deficit to single digits twice in the final 10 minutes. The Reddies maintained at least an eight-point spread, taking a 9-2 run in the final two minutes to secure their sixth-straight win.
Estes paced the Reddies with 20 points, 18 of which came in the second half, while sinking three treys. Bossier picked up her sixth double-double of the season with 13 points, 15 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end of the court, and three blocks. Pink Jones added
13 in the second half for 15 on the night. The Reddies dominated the glass, pulling down 50 rebounds to Monticello’s
27, which gave Henderson a 27-8 advantage on second-chance points. Henderson’s offensive rebounding (23) bested the defensive rebounding (17) of the Blossoms as well.
The win gave Henderson its 18th of the season, marking just the sixth time in the 46-year history of the program the team has won at least 18 in a single season. The 14 conference victories ties the program’s record for most league wins in a campaign as Henderson won
14 Gulf South Conference games in the
2005-06 season.
The Reddies, No. 3 in the GAC, will take to the road today to battle Arkansas Tech (19-3, 15-3), the current No. 2 in the conference.
With a 1 p.m. tip-off in Russellville, Henderson is battling not only to set another record but to claim the coveted No. 2 seed. Top-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State (23-1, 18-0) has all but secured the No. 1 seed with four games remaining. The top two seeds in the GAC Tournament get the first day off before facing the seventh and eighth seeds.
Henderson is guaranteed at least the No. 3 seed as Harding sits in fourth place with just nine wins and four games to go.
Jones paced Henderson with a career-high 26 points when the Golden Suns visited the Duke Wells Center on Jan. 11 as the Reddies rolled to a 7552 rout. Henderson State gave up the opening four points of the game before keeping Arkansas Tech scoreless the remainder of the period while scoring 20 unanswered in the first period.
The Reddies stretched their lead to
36-16 at the break before Arkansas Tech made a few runs in the second half, pulling within 11 with 3:07 left in the third frame before Henderson shut the door with an 18-5 run to start the fourth.
Jones leads the Reddies with 16.5 points per game for fourth in the GAC and is fifth in field goal percentage with
49.3 percent. The sophomore is the best shooting guard in the conference while ranking seventh with 3.6 assists per game and with 75.2 percent of her shots at the charity stripe falling, she is among the top 15.
Bossier averages 14 points, 12.7 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game in the last seven outings, picking up five of her double-doubles and is shooting 52.6 percent from the field. Sitting third in the GAC with a 50.6 percent field goal average, she is ninth in rebounds per game with 7.6.
Estes, whose performance Thursday was her second with at least 20 and 12th in double-digits, is third in the conference with 8.8 rebounds per game with 11.5 points per contest. She has made 46 of 55 from the free throw line for 83.6 percent.
All five of the Golden Suns’ starters are averaging double-digits. Freshman Jayana Sanders paces the team with 14.5 points per game, while junior forward Lyrik Williams is averaging 12.7 points and eight boards per contest.
The top offensive team in the GAC, Arkansas Tech averages 77.2 points per game with a scoring margin of plus-9.2 in conference matches, the second-best in the league.
The Golden Suns have dropped just one contest at Tucker Coliseum this season, an 84-76 loss to Southwestern on Nov. 30.