ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State trailed by a point at the half to Paul Quinn College on Tuesday night, but the Reddies outscored the Lady Tigers 17-8 in the third quarter and their defense held them to just 14.3 percent shooting in the second half, as Henderson pulled away to win its home opener 75-64 at the Duke Wells Center.

Paul Quinn carried a slim 40-39 lead into the break despite the Reddies shooting 50 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. That changed quickly in the second half, as Henderson came out strong in the third period behind an 11-2 run, which carried over into a 56-48 lead entering the fourth. The Lady Tigers closed the gap to 56-52 with 6:54 to play, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Blu Jones and Lani Snowden helped Henderson regain control. Paul Quinn would not come that close again, as they could only manage two field goals in the quarter which helped Henderson gradually run away.

Haleigh Henson led the Reddies with 21 points, 16 of which came in the first half, on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. Pink Jones added 14 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Bree Bossier chipped in 13 and nine rebounds. Henderson out-rebounded Paul Quinn 54-38 and shot 43 percent from the field in the win.

Henderson got off to a strong start in the contest behind three early 3-pointers from Haleigh Henson, which helped the Reddies race out to a 15-4 lead in the game's opening moments. Paul Quinn found its footing, though, and answered with a 17-7 run over the remainder of the first quarter to cut the HSU lead down to just 22-21 at the end of one. Paul Quinn shot 50 percent in the second quarter to take its one point lead at the half, but the Reddie defense took over in the final 20 minutes and held the Lady Tigers to just 5-of-35 shooting in the last two quarters.

The win improves the Reddies to 2-3 on the season. Henderson plays its first Great American Conference home game of the season on Thursday night against Southern Nazarene at 5:30 p.m. in the Duke Wells Center.