REDDIES STUN TOP-SEEDED SOUTHERN NAZARENE; REACH #theGAC FINAL FOR FIRST TIME
Courtesy HSUSports.com
SHAWNEE, Okla. — No. 1 seed Southern Nazarene entered Saturday's Great American Conference Tournament semifinal with a 28-1 record and a No. 7 ranking nationally, but it was Henderson State who had Jadah Pickens, and that proved to be the difference.
Led by Pickens' career-high 35 points, the Reddies pulled off a colossal upset and dethroned the GAC regular season champions 81-77 to advance to the conference tournament title game for the first time in program history.
Henderson will face No. 6 seed Southwestern Oklahoma State at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow for the GAC crown.
Pickens, a senior from Conway, Arkansas, was simply phenomenal and turned in the performance of a lifetime by shooting 13-of-17 from the floor and adding eight rebounds and four assists. Ashley Farrar was also in double figures with 16 points while Tori Gittens had 11.
It was apparent from the start that the No. 1 seed Crimson Storm were in for a fight. The Reddies stormed out of the gates to a 13-4 lead and shot 69% from the floor in the first quarter to hold a 23-18 advantage after 10 minutes.
The gap only grew in a pivotal second period where HSU outscored Southern Nazarene 21-13 and opened up a double digit lead. Pickens was the catalyst throughout the opening half as she poured in 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field to power the Reddies to a 44-31 advantage at the break.
SNU, who went 21-1 in conference play this year, came out quickly in the third and trimmed the deficit down to just seven points on three different occasions in the quarter. Each time, however, Henderson responded offensively, as big buckets from Gittens, Pickens and Farrar helped the Reddies maintain their cushion and take a 64-55 lead into the final period.
The Reddies controlled the vast majority of the game's home stretch and opened up their largest lead of the game, 75-60, on a three from Farrar with just 4:43 remaining. Southern Nazarene had one last rally in them, though. The Crimson Storm deployed the full court havoc press and saw immediate results as it spurred a huge 15-2 run that whittled the HSU advantage down to just 77-75 with 38 seconds to go.
With the game and season hanging in the balance, it was Pickens who delivered for Henderson State. The diminutive senior guard came up huge by drilling four-straight free throws in the final 34 seconds to keep the Reddies in control. Despite the massive push from SNU, Pickens' clutch shots proved to be enough as HSU got a final stop and stormed the floor in joyous celebration of the mammoth 81-77 upset.
Henderson shot 48% from the floor in the win and limited Southern Nazarene to 45% shooting. The Reddies were 9-for-21 from 3-point range and their bench outscored SNU's 16-7. The Crimson Storm's vaunted inside play accounted for 50 of their points, but HSU had 40 points in the paint as well and took advantage of 17 second chance points compared to just nine for Southern Nazarene.
The Reddies' last conference championship in women's basketball came in 2003-04 when Henderson won the Gulf South Conference Tournament before advancing to the NCAA Division II Final Four.