BETHANY — Senior guard Madeline Schroepfer scored a career-high 26 points for Southern Nazarene as they survived a fourth-quarter scare from Henderson State and pulled out an 85-74 victory inside the Sawyer Center.
 
It was a career game for Schroepfer as she not only set a career-high in points, but snagged a team-high 10 rebounds and knocked down four three-pointers, both of which are also career highs. She finished the game shooting 6-of-10 from the field while also converting 10-of-12 free-throws.
 
The Crimson Storm (4-8, 3-3 GAC) shot very well from the floor on Saturday, knocking down 51.9 percent of their shots, including 6-of-12 (50%) of their three-point attempts. The Reddies (10-3, 5-2 GAC) shot 41 percent from the field and converted 6-of-14 (42.9%) of their shots from behind the arc. Despite committing 20 turnovers in the game, SNU forced 15 turnovers out of Henderson in a game that saw a combined 50 fouls.
 
Alexus Jones scored a season-high 17 points for the Storm on 8-of-13 shooting, as the sophomore also pulled down six rebounds and recorded two steals as well. Schroepfer and Jones were the only players for SNU to hit double-figures as Abby Niehues chipped in nine points and eight rebounds. Irene Perez added eight points and three assists while Adrienne Berry finished with seven points for the Storm.
 
Much like the win on Thursday night, SNU got off to a red-hot start in the first two quarters. They shot 51.7 percent from the field in the first half and knocked down 6-of-9 three-pointers.
 
The Crimson Storm held the Reddies to 31.3 percent shooting in the first quarter as SNU jumped out to an early 18-12 lead after the opening period of action. Southern Nazarene shot 44.4 percent in the first and knocked down 2-of-4 three-pointers.
 
In the second quarter, SNU almost matched their season-high of 33 points in a quarter as the Storm put up 32. They went to the line an eye-popping 18 times and converted 14 of those free throws.  They shot a sizzling 63.6 percent from the field as Schroepfer buried four triples to give SNU a 50-30 lead heading into half.
 
Henderson State made adjustments at halftime but couldn't slow down the SNU offensive attack as the Storm put up 18 in the period and took a 68-49 lead heading into the final quarter. The Reddies were not going down without a fight however, as the Storm would see in the fourth.
 
HSU scored 25 points in the fourth and used their full-court press to get back into the game. The Reddies used a 9-0 run to cut the SNU lead to 70-57 and that was just the beginning. Henderson later used a 10-3 run to make it 70-77 with 1:45 to play. Just when things started to look unsettling for the Storm, Schroepfer knocked down four free-throws down the stretch to close out the Reddie run.
 
Southern Nazarene now prepares for four straight contests on the road as they do not return to the Sawyer Center until January 24^th. In their next contest, they take on Arkansas Tech next Thursday night in Russellville, Arkansas.