ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – SWOSU Women's Basketball made their way to Arkadelphia to face off against Henderson State in a matinee midweek matchup where two scorching hot quarters would lead the way to an 89-83 victory.
In a cold and snowy day across Oklahoma and Arkansas there was hot shooting inside of the Duke Wells Center. SWOSU opened with a 26-point first quarter which is the highest scoring first quarter of the year, shooting 10-15 from the field and 4-7 from the deep ball to give them a six-point lead going into the second frame. Chole Cantrell led the way with seven early points on perfect shooting.
The shooting numbers were due to come down, but the Lady Dawgs managed to keep their output to a similar mark, winning the second quarter 18-14 to build the lead to 44-34 after the first 20 minutes. SWOSU's 44 points is the second most first half points of the season behind a 49-point outburst against UCO earlier in the 2024-25 campaign. The 56.7% (17-30) shooting from the field is the highest mark for any game this year. The Lady Bulldogs won the turnover battle in the first half, forcing 12 while committing five, leading to a 13-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
The third quarter saw a back-and-forth battle until the final two minutes when the Reddies went on an 8-0 run to close the gap, shrinking SWOSU's margin to just a one-point lead at 57-56. SWOSU shot just 3-16 (18.8%) inside the third quarter and did not make a three-point shot. Henderson made two three-pointers in the last two minutes that shifted the momentum heading into the final frame.
Libbi Zinn knocked down a big shot from beyond the arc to open the scoring in the fourth and sparked a short 5-0 run to start on the right note. Maebry Shields would then find herself open off an inbounds play and knocked down another three for the Lady Bulldogs, keeping steady ahead of the Reddies.
After SWOSU took a 72-65 lead following an Averi Zinn and-one bucket, the Reddies would respond with their own to keep the game within two possessions. However, the Lady Dawgs would keep finding ways to the rim getting another and-one, this time by Mason Jones, and led 77-69 with 2:35 to go. That lead would be too much for the Reddies to overcome. After intentional fouls by Henderson State to prolong the game, the final score would rest at 89-83.
89 points is the most scored for the Lady Dawgs this year, thanks to a high scoring first quarter with 26 and then a season high 32 points in the fourth quarter from 16-of-18 shooting at the free throw line. They would finish 28-32 (87.5%) from the line for the game – the second most made free throws in any GAC game this year.
Final numbers had SWOSU shooting 27-58 (46.6%) from the field and 7-14 (50%) from the deep ball, the second highest field goal percentage of the year and the highest three-point percentage. Henderson State shot 28-56 (50%) from the field but only 7-23 (30.4) from beyond the arc. The Reddies went 20-26 (76.9%) from the line.
SWOSU forced 19 turnovers to just nine for themselves – the fourth time this year that the Lady Dawgs have forced 10 or more turnovers more than they committed.
Mason Jones would lead the way with a season high 20-point performance on 6-11 shooting and a perfect 7-7 from the line. Cantrell also had her season high with 14 on 4-5 shooting and five rebounds. Averi (Zinn) ended with 16 points and 4 assists and Layni (Zinn) had 15 going 8-8 from the charity strike.
SWOSU (7-6, 3-4 GAC) grabs their first win against Henderson State in their last six tries and now will cross the road to play Ouachita Baptist on Saturday at 1:00 pm.
