ARKADELPHIA -- Henderson State's women's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games overall and five games in the Battle of the Ravine with a 75-62 victory Thursday at the Duke Wells Center.
Ouachita Baptist (6-17, 4-13 Great American Conference) trailed, 50-46, after three quarters and opened the fourth with a 3-pointer by sophomore Maija Gertsone to make it 50-49. Six straight inside points over the next three minutes from sophomore forward Karrington Whaley extended the lead.
A 3-pointer from sophomore guard Lani Snowden capped off the 9-0 run for a 59-49 lead with 6:05 to play. Henderson (17-6, 12-5) cruised in the final minutes to the win.
The Tigers made three of their first four shots for an early 7-3 lead. A 3-pointer from sophomore forward Eden Crow made it 10-6 with 4:32 left in the quarter.
Henderson held Ouachita scoreless for more than four minutes down the stretch in the opening frame. A free throw from sophomore forward Jakyya Clay helped the Tigers take an 11-10 lead into the second quarter.
Another jumper by Crow started an 11-2 run as Ouachita took its largest lead at 22-12. Henderson responded with an 8-0 run, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Whaley and Snowden. The Tigers retook control and ended the quarter with a 4-1 spurt for a 26-21 halftime lead.
The Tigers held the Reddies to just seven made field goals in the first half. Henderson shot 24 percent from the floor, but the host team turned it around to shoot 57 percent after the break.
Junior guard Madison Brittain caught fire for the Tigers in the third quarter, scoring 11 of the team's 20 points. Freshman guard Maci Mains led the charge for the Reddies with back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 16-4 run as Henderson took its first lead of the game, 37-33.
Ouachita went down by five points, but sophomore Madison Raney hit a 3-pointer and Brittain made another jumper to tie the game at 40-all. Henderson took another five-point lead on a 3-pointer from junior guard Hailey Estes before consecutive threes from Brittain and freshman Rylee Lavender.
The Reddies have now won 10 of their last 11 meetings with the Tigers.
Snowden finished with a team-high 17 points to go with eight rebounds. Whaley scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Estes finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the 17th double-double of her career. She passed Angela Brown to become the fifth-leading rebounder in program history.
Henderson has won four straight games to move into a three-way tie for second place in the GAC. Southwestern Oklahoma State (22-1, 17-0) has a five-game lead for first place.
The Reddies will next head to Searcy today for a 5:30 p.m. game against Harding (17-6, 12-5). Henderson defeated the Lady Bisons, 84-77, in Arkadelphia on Dec. 8.
Southwestern, Henderson, Harding and Southern Nazarene (13-10, 12-5) are the only four teams in the conference to have clinched berths to this year's GAC Women's Basketball Championships tournament next month in Bartlesville, Okla. The top eight teams in the league qualify.
Junior guard Alivia Huell, of Malvern, scored 17 points for the Tigers on Thursday and also had nine rebounds. She is now two points away from 800 points in her career.
Brittain added 13 points with 3-for-4 3-point shooting to become the first Ouachita women's basketball player since 2015 to tally 12 consecutive games of double-digit scoring. Clay put in eight points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Tigers are second to last in the conference standings. They are two games back of the teams tied for eighth place, Northwestern Oklahoma State (9-15, 6-11) and Oklahoma Baptist (10-13, 6-11).
Ouachita is scheduled for a home game today at 1 p.m. against the last-place team, Southern Arkansas (2-21, 1-16), inside Bill Vining Arena.
Sports on 02/16/2019