ADA, Okla. – The East Central women's basketball team faced Henderson State University in a Great American Conference matchup, falling 66-61 to the Reddies Thursday night at the Kerr Activities Center.
 
"Defensively we gave great effort and executed the game plan," Interim Head Coach Heather Hurt said. "We fell short in our rebounding effort and offensive execution down the stretch. We were in the bonus for the last four to five minutes of the game and never got to the free-throw line. Our toughness needs to be there every game for us to win."
 
ECU got off to a hot start in the opening period as they outscored HSU 6-0 and held them scoreless for the first four minutes. The Tigers stretched their lead to 13-4 before the Reddies answered with five straight points. But a last-second three-pointer by Emily Wilson kept ECU's lead at seven going into the second period, 16-9.
 
The Reddies started to connect from the field in the second quarter as they closed the deficit and took their first lead of the game 20-19 over the course of three minutes. A jumper and layup from Mackenzie Crusoe put the Tigers back on top 28-25 before a Reddies three-pointer tied the game 28-all. At the half, the score would remain 30-30.
 
After the break, HSU would strike first, going on an 8-2 scoring run to start the third quarter. ECU responded with a 9-0 run to put themselves back in the game leading 41-38 with under six minutes to go in the period. The game would tie three more times before the Reddies held a one-point lead going into the final stanza 50-49
 
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth battle trading buckets and switching lead changes. The Tigers clawed their way to lead 61-60 after a three-pointer from Ashlyn Evans-Thompson, but six straight points from the Reddies would finalize the game 66-61.
 
Four Tigers scored in double-digits – Ashlyn Evans-Thompson, Mackenzie Crusoe, Izzy Cummins, and Emily Wilson.
 
Evans-Thompson led with 14 points, going five-for-16 from the field while Crusoe was right behind with 13 points shooting 5-for-12 overall.
 
Cummins was next with 12 points, going 5-for-12 from the floor while Wilson scored 10 points going 3-for-5 from the field.
 
The East Central University women's basketball team will be back at home Saturday, Jan. 28 to take on Ouachita Baptist University at 1:00 p.m.