Reddie women hold on for second ‘Battle’ win
ARKADELPHIA — Ouachita Baptist made Henderson State fight to come out on top as the Reddies squeezed out a 71-64 victory at the Duke Wells Center Tuesday night.
The Tigers (13-13, 9-11 in the Great American Conference) pulled to a 60-59 lead with 3:56 left in the game, but a pair of layups by Bree Bossier put the Reddies (19-7, 15-5) up by three before Chasidee Owens hit a bucket to pull Ouachita within 63-62.
Henderson State used a 7-0 run to stretch its advantage to 70-62 with 37 seconds remaining. Ouachita’s Madison Brittain hit a bucket to pull within 70-64, but a free throw by Bossier set the final.
“We didn’t execute our defensive scout plan as well as we needed to late in the game,” said Henderson head coach Jill Thomas. “They got a couple of easy looks. I’m really proud of this group. They did enough to win the game; they made enough big plays.
“I thought Bree Bossier, down the stretch, had some really big buckets, had a rebound and a putback. I’m really proud of our group. They did what they needed to today.”
The Tigers are one win away from securing a spot in next week’s GAC tournament in Bartlesville, Okla., and the Reddies have secured the No. 3 seed after falling to Arkansas Tech (21-3, 17-3) Saturday.
“Defensively, there were things that we were doing to try to shut Pink (Jones) down,” said Ouachita Baptist head coach Garry Crowder. “She didn’t have a big game. Of course, Blu (Jones) took over, and she created a lot of things for their post players.
“Then, (Haleigh) Henson hit some shots and made some plays, too. She made some tough shots in the second half. Of course, (Shakyla) Begnaud had a great game, kept us in it.”
Ouachita sophomore Shakyla Begnaud, of McGehee, put the Tigers on the board first, sinking one of two free throws just 10 seconds into the contest, but the Reddies took an 8-3 run to jump out to a 12-4 lead with 6:56 remaining. Henderson sophomore Blu Jones, of Fayetteville, did the lion’s share of the work in the run, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and making a three-point play before Greenwood product Henson’s bucket at the 6:56 mark.
A trey and a basket by Begnaud pulled the Tigers within three, 12-9, with 5:27 remaining. After another Blu Jones bucket, Tigers freshman Eden Crow, of Genoa, sank two buckets for a 14-13 Reddies lead with 1:19 to go. Henson hit a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to give Henderson a 17-13 lead.
Ouachita opened the second period on a 5-0 run before the Reddies responded with a 6-2 run to stretch their advantage to 23-20 with 7:58 remaining. The two team traded the lead before the Reddies hit a 5-0 run to pull ahead 30-25 with 4:52 remaining.
The Tigers hit a 7-0 stretch to pull ahead for a 32-30 lead at the 2:08 mark, the Reddies drawing even before a 3-2 stretch to take a 35-34 buffer into the locker room.
“I thought we lost our sense of urgency,” Thomas said. “I thought we came out well. We were pressing, and we got a lead and we kind of got tired. We lost that sense of urgency, and 21, Begnaud, hit a lot of big shots today that she usually is not hitting. I think Ouachita did a really good job in the second quarter.”
Henderson State hit a 7-0 stretch to open the second half for a 42-35 lead at the 7:16 mark, Ouachita finally making its way onto the scoreboard with a three-point play by Begnaud. The Reddies pulled ahead by eight, 46-38, with 5:12 remaining in the third frame, but the Tigers pulled within 46-45 at the 3:33 mark as sophomore Brittain, a Bentonville native, hit a trey to cap a 7-0 run.
A three-point play by Bossier, a senior, along with a 3-pointer by freshman Lani Snowden, of Van Buren, pushed the Reddies’ lead out to seven, 52-45, before the Tigers closed out the period on a 4-2 stretch to cut the deficit to 54-49 going into the final frame.
“I think the big thing is, early in the second half, especially throughout most of the third quarter, we struggled offensively,” Crowder said. “We weren’t getting in our stuff and running it very well. We were right there and had a chance, and the last couple of minutes, Bossier took it over.”
Begnaud hit a jumper to open the final 10 minutes for the Tigers, but the Reddies hit a 5-2 run to stretch to a 59-53 lead with 5:43 remaining.
Ouachita Baptist rolled on a 7-0 run, including a trey by Lake Hamilton alum and senior Kori Bullard, to take a 60-59 buffer at the 3:56 mark. The Reddies responded with an 11-2 run to pull to a 70-62 advantage with 37 seconds to go.
Blu Jones paced the Reddies with 17 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“That is one of the things Blu has got to understand,” said Thomas. “She’s a really good player. If they are going try to take away her sister, then we are good enough to score somewhere else.
“That is something we’ve been anticipating all year. That is something I actually already talked to Pink about this week, ‘Everyone is going to be queued into you. You are going to have to distribute the ball a little bit better and cut a little bit harder because it’s just not going to come as easy anymore because you’ve been so good.’”
Henson added 15 with three assists, and Bossier put up 13 with
13 boards for her seventh double-double in nine games. Pink Jones, who has led the team in scoring most of the season, put up just four points, but grabbed seven boards while dishing out five times with a pair of steals.
Begnaud picked up her first career double-double and a career-high 27 points as she led the Tigers in the loss, tallying 10 rebounds while hitting two from distance.
“It was a tremendous game for her,” Crowder said. “She had a great game over here last year against Henderson. She must like playing over here. We were able to play her more minutes. She struggled with her feet this year.”
Brittain was the only other Tiger in double-digits with 10 points, hitting two treys of her own while statting a pair of assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal. Alivia Huell, of Malvern, led the team in assists with three, Morgan Miller leading with a pair of steals.
Henderson State shot for 45.2 percent, 28 of 62, from the field, hitting 9 of 19, 47.4 percent, from distance. Ouachita Baptist hit just
25 of 64, 39.1 percent, while shooting for 29.4 percent from 3-point range, 5 of 17.
“I thought we played a lot better. It just came down to the last couple of minutes,” Crowder said. “They made some plays, especially down inside, got some rebounds, stuff like that.
“You’ve got to hand it to Bossier. She’s tough on the boards down there. She got a couple of rebounds, scored a couple of baskets and stuff. It was a good game, could have gone either way. I thought the girls executed their game plan defensively pretty well. We struggled offensively, turned the ball over too much.”
The Reddies travel to Magnolia on today to face the Lady Muleriders (9-17, 8-12) of Southern Arkansas before closing out the regular season with Harding (1414, 10-10) in Searcy on Saturday. “We haven’t wanted to look past anything,” Thomas said. “Our goal is to get 20 wins now, and we are one away from that. I think there is a discussion we will have.
“We are beat up, our kids are tired and we do have got a big-picture game next week. I don’t want to look past any opponent because both opponents we have coming are really good. There is a decision that needs to be made tonight or tomorrow on how we will handle that.”
The Tigers will host the Golden Suns (21-3, 17-3) of Arkansas Tech today before their regular-season finale against Southern Arkansas at Bill Vining Arena Saturday.
“We’ve got to play it one at a time,” Crowder said. “We have not wrapped up a spot yet. We need one more win to assure ourselves of making the tournament, so you’ve got to concentrate on winning the next one.
“We knew this week would be tough. We are playing the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the conference. We had a chance tonight against Henderson, so we’ll try to get it back together for Tech on Thursday.”