HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. – The Hendrix College women's basketball team traveled to Holly Springs to take on the Rust College Bearcats in their first game of the new year, earning a 72-62 road win.
 
Caitlin Kriesel-Bigler finished with 20 points, while Sara Dyslin checked in with 13 points. Estrella Flores scored eight points, with all of them coming in the second half to help the squad seal their second straight win.
 
Hendrix jumped out to an early lead, starting the game on an 11-5 run. The Bearcats rallied to tie the game at 11, hitting a pair of back-to-back three pointers to knot the score at 22-22.
 
The Warriors jumped out to their biggest lead of the first half with a 9-2 run over the next six minutes, taking a 31-24 lead with 10:09 left in the first half, but couldn't hold down the home team as the Bearcats stormed back again. Rust tightened up on defense, allowing Hendrix just four points in the final ten minutes of the half, but the Warriors held onto a slim 35-33 lead at the break.
 
Hendrix came out of the locker room on a cold streak, missing their first five attempts in the second half. Their cold shooting allowed the Bearcats to take a 39-35 lead. Kriesel-Bigler netted the team's first field goal of the second half over four minutes into the frame.
 
The home team pounded the paint, feeding their post players for points in the paint. Hendrix stayed in the game by crashing the offensive glass, scoring six straight second-chance points to take a 50-49 lead.
 
The Warriors continued to trade buckets but trailed late in the half.  With 7:37 left in the game, the Orange and Black trailed 53-52, but the squad turned up the intensity in the final minutes.
 
Hendrix ran out to a 13-2 run to take a convincing lead over the next four minutes. Katy Gallien, Cathy Waylan, and Kriesel-Bigler each hit a big shot to extend the lead to 65-55 with 2:47 remaining.
 
Rust cut into the lead making it 65-58, but Estrella Flores provided the dagger on a deep three from the top of the key that just beat the shot clock to extend the Hendrix lead back to double digits and drain the Bearcats' momentum. Breann Forbes and Kriesel-Bigler each hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
 
Hendrix improves to 4-7 on the season, winning back-to-back games for the first time this year. The squad will seek a three-game winning streak when they travel to University of Dallas on Monday, January 5.