Alva Review-Courier -

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Henderson State went toe-to-toe with Arkansas Tech for 36 minutes on Saturday afternoon and had the lead late, but the Reddies went scoreless in the last four minutes and Pink Jones' potential game-tying shot rolled off the front of the rim in the final seconds, as the Golden Suns defeated Henderson 68-65 to snap the Reddies' six-game win streak.

The Reddies (18-7, 14-5) trailed 41-40 at the break after a tight first half, but put together a strong third quarter, behind five points from both Haleigh Henson and Blu Jones, to seize a 55-53 lead entering the fourth. In the final period, the two GAC contenders went back and forth, as the lead changed hands six different times. Henson did her best to keep Henderson in front and hit two big 3-pointers to push the lead out to 61-57, but Tech (20-3, 16-3) responded by taking the next five points to grab the lead back, 62-61.

A layup from Bree Bossier with 5:36 to go put HSU back in front, but the lead was short-lived, as two Golden Sun free throws helped them surge in front once more. With 3:56 to play, Blu Jones got a driving layup to fall to make it 65-64, but it would end up being Henderson's last points of the game. ATU regained a 66-65 lead seconds later on a layup, which proved to be the last made field goal for either team, as both squads went cold in the final three minutes.

The Reddies had the ball with less than 20 seconds left and a chance to take the lead, but a turnover forced Henderson to foul three times in the last 10 seconds in order to put ATU on the free throw line. The Golden Suns' Cheyenne North hit 1-of-2 at the stripe with 6.3 seconds to go to give them a 67-65 advantage, but after a timeout to advance the ball, the Reddies had one last chance.

Needing two to tie or three to win, Pink Jones attacked the basket and got a good look on a fading 10-foot jumper with seconds left, but it rolled off the front of the rim into ATU's hands. The Golden Suns tacked on a free throw with less than a second left and Henderson did not have enough time to get a shot off, as the Reddies fell 68-65.

Henson led HSU with 24 points and hit six 3-pointers, while Blu Jones added 12 points and six rebounds. Bossier notched her sixth double-double in eight games by finishing with 10 points and 12 rebounds and Pink Jones chipped in 10 points of her own.

The Reddies hit 11 3-pointers, which marks the first time this season HSU has lost when hitting 10 3-pointers or more, but they were out-rebounded 45-39 and ATU won the second chance points-battle 18-4.

Henderson's final home game of the season comes on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. when it faces Ouachita Baptist in the Duke Wells Center.