Henderson pushes past Rogers in 4th

CLAREMORE, Okla. — Rogers State took a onepoint lead early in the fourth quarter Wednesday before Henderson State scored 29 of the final 42 points of the game on 70-percent shooting in the final frame.

The Reddies (3-1) outscored the Hillcats (2-3), 2915, in the final 9:18 of the game for an 86-73 victory on the road. Hailey Estes recorded a double-double with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds in 38 minutes, while Karrington Whaley scored 13 points, Pink Jones scored 11 and Blu Jones had 10.

A pair of free throws by Ke’Aunna Johnson gave the hosts a 58-57 lead before the Reddies found their groove in the fourth quarter. Two buckets from Madi Nichols helped spark an 8-2 run for the visitors to open up a 65-60 advantage.

A 3-pointer by Lindsey Byfield briefly stemmed the momentum to cut the lead to 65-62, but backto-back treys from Estes and Lani Snowden in response gave the Reddies their largest lead since the first quarter at 71-63. Henderson outscored Rogers, 21-10, in the final seven minutes.

Henderson shot 10-for-14 in the fourth quarter to pull away. Rogers was held to 25-percent shooting in the quarter.

The Reddies got out to a quick start on the road and used three early 3-pointers to open up a 17-5 lead in the game’s first five minutes. The Hillcats responded and closed the first quarter on a 13-5 run to trim the deficit to 22-18 after one period.

The next two quarters did little to separate the teams. Rogers outscored Henderson by five points in the second to take a 38-37 advantage into the locker room before the Reddies came back in the third to carry a slim 57-56 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Henderson shot 50.8 percent from the field in the win and held Rogers State to just 1-for-10 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. The Reddies also forced 17 Hillcat turnovers while giving the ball up just 12 times themselves.

The Reddies’ next game is Thursday when they travel to Magnolia to face Southern Arkansas (1-3) in the first Great American Conference game of the season at 5:30 p.m. It will be the first game for the Muleriders since a 78-58 loss at Missouri S&T (2-1) on Nov. 17.