Alva Review-Courier -

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Southern Nazarene entered the Duke Wells Center on Thursday night ranked inside the top-three in defense in the Great American Conference, and it showed why in a 55-48 win over Henderson State.

The Crimson Storm (10-9, 9-4 GAC) have been holding opponents to just 64.1 points per game and that number will drop once again after another outstanding effort on the defensive end. It is the third straight game that SNU has held their opponent to 50 points or fewer, and the win Thursday night stretches the Storm's winning streak to five games. The win is also the first victory for SNU inside the Duke Wells Center since the 2012-13 season, and the Storm walk away with the season sweep over Henderson State.

Southern Nazarene held the Reddies (13-6, 8-5 GAC) to 29.8 percent shooting and 17.6 percent from behind the three-point arc, as they forced 19 turnovers out of them as well. The Storm have now held their opponent to under 30 percent shooting for the second time in the last three games. SNU wasn't much better than HSU on the offensive end however, as they shot just 30.5 percent from the field and made just 3-of-15 (20%) three-point attempts. They did get to the line 10 times though and made nine of those freebies.

The last time the Storm faced Henderson, Madeline Schroepfer had a career-high 26 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, and this time she had another career-high in a different category. The senior guard tallied six steals, which is her best defensive performance in a SNU uniform, and she also led the way in scoring with 13 points. Schropefer was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line and she also pulled down five rebounds.

Adrienne Berry scored 10 points and grabbed three rebounds while freshman Jaycee Soap brought a tremendous spark off the Storm bench with 10 points. Abby Niehues nearly had a double-double as she scored nine points and snagged a game-high 11 rebounds. The leading shot-blocker in the GAC also tallied five rejections in the contest as well.

Sophomore guard Alexus Jones added six points and seven rebounds, while freshman Massey Beard chipped in seven points and four rebounds off the Southern Nazarene bench.

It was an ugly first quarter for both sides as the Reddies went 3-of-15 (20%) from the floor while the Storm made just 1-of-13 (7%) attempts. SNU turned the ball over eight times in the opening frame while HSU coughed it up seven times and took a 9-4 lead into the second quarter.

The Crimson Storm bench came out in the second on a quick 8-0 run to tie the game courtesy of a Beard layup and two three-pointers from Soap. The SNU defense was absolutely stifling in the second quarter, as they held the Reddies to six points on 2-of-14 (14.3%) and five turnovers. The Storm outscored HSU 21-6 in the period to take a 25-15 lead into the break as their defense held Henderson to 17 percent shooting in the first half.

Southern Nazarene opened the third on a 6-2 run to bump their lead up to 14 at 31-17 and after an 8-0 run from Henderson State, the Storm were able to get it back up to double-digits by quarter's end at 41-31.

Starting the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead is dangerous no matter what level you're playing at. The Crimson Storm knew that Henderson State was going to make a late push, and that's exactly what they did. The Reddies opened the final frame on an 8-2 run to cut it to 43-39, and later cut it to 49-46 with 1:42 to play.

That's the closest that Henderson came though, as Southern Nazarene got a couple of huge free-throws from Schroepfer down the stretch to close the game out.

SNU will look to make it six wins in a row on Saturday afternoon, as they take on Ouachita Baptist with a 1 p.m. tipoff scheduled.