ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University women's basketball team fell to its cross-street rival Henderson State University on Tuesday night at the Duke Wells Center by a final score of 82-72.
The loss evens the season series between the Tigers (10-12, 7-11 GAC) and Reddies (14-10, 11-7 GAC).
Both teams couldn't miss early, but a 13-0 run for the Reddies over a three-minute period led to a double-digit lead heading into the second period.
Ouachita made a pair of runs at the Reddies in the second period, but only managing to climb to within five with 3:24 remaining. HSU closed out the first half on an 8-1 run to take a 12-point lead of 41-29 lead into the locker room at the break.
In the third period, the Tigers turned in their best offensive performance of the game with 28 points, but were unable to erase its halftime deficit. Ouachita rallied to cut the HSU lead down to one on two different possessions, but a pair of unanswered baskets at the end of the period left HSU up by six heading into the fourth.
Both teams started slow in the fourth with neither team scoring for the first three minutes. A trio of three-pointers for the Reddies gave HSU a double-digit lead once again at the 4:32 mark. From that point on, the closest the Tigers got to the Reddies was six on two different occasions.
Four Tigers finished the game scoring in double digits, led by
Laney Mears with 19.
Grayson Fairless had 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Makayla Miller added 14 points and six boards.
Heidi Robinson finished with 13 points.
Ouachita is back in action this Thursday night at home against East Central.
