Jackson, Miss. - Hendrix defeated the Mississippi University for Women (MUW) 86-70 at the Hangar Dome in the opening game of the annual Millsaps Thanksgiving Classic.

MUW led 12-7 at the first media timeout, but Hendrix responded quickly coming out of the break with two free throws from Riley Brady and a Shelby Heil layup to trim the Owls' lead to one. A minute later, Brailey Forst layed up for two to give the Warriors their first lead of the afternoon. Brooklyn Rowe tacked onto the lead with her first of four threes on the afternoon, and Carter Crane's two-point basket gave Hendrix an 18-15 lead heading into the second quarter.

Just as they did in Shreveport earlier in the week, Hendrix dominated the second quarter, outscoring MUW 21-13 in the period to lead by double figures heading into halftime.

The Warriors led by as many as 16 in the third quarter and, despite the Owls trimming Hendrix's lead to single-digits early in the fourth quarter, Wes Sullivan's team kept their foot on the gas and took a commanding 21-point lead with three minutes to play off two free throws from Rowe to put too much distance between them and MUW.

Rowe led the Warriors with a career-high 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. Simone Shields added 14 points after shooting 50% from the field. Brady was one rebound shy of a season-first double-double with 15 points and 9 boards.

While Forst was limited to just 6 points, her impact in the paint was still substantial as she racked up 11 boards and swatted away 4 shots.

As a team, Hendrix shot 36% from distance but were an efficient 50% from the field while outscoring the Owls 42-30 in the paint. Another massive boost for the Warriors on Saturday was a whopping 49 points from the bench.

With the win, Hendrix improves to 5-3 on the year, which is now their highest win total since the 2018-19 season. The Warriors will face off with Huntingdon College tomorrow in Jackson to wrap up the Millsaps Thanksgiving Classic.