Conway, Ark. - Hendrix opened up the 2025-26 season on Saturday evening with an 81-66 loss to Rhodes.

The Warriors (0-1) began the first half competitively, going bucket-for-bucket with their former Southern Athletic Assocition rivals in the opening ten minutes. After Rhodes took a 7-4 lead off a three-pointer at the 15:41 mark, baskets from Charles Hatchett and Holden Plant gave Hendrix an 8-7 lead right before the first media timeout of the half. It was Hendrix's first and only lead of the contest. Rhodes came out of the timeout with a 7-0 scoring run to re-assert their superiority, and built their lead up to as many as twelve late in the first half. Tyler Jackson beat the buzzer with a mid-range jumper as time expired after a Plant full-court heave from the baseline, which cut Rhodes' lead to ten heading into halftime.

Hendrix opened up the second half with a 6-2 run and trailed 40-33 with a minute and a half gone before the Lynx doubled their advantage with an 8-0 run. Rhodes took its largest lead of the night with a layup at the 8:57 mark to go up 66-43, and prevented Hendrix from gaining any traction in hopes of a comeback attempt down the stretch.

Joseph Dockett led the Warriors with 14 points in his Hendrix debut and was 2 boards shy of a double-double. Plant also impressed in his first collegiate contest, scoring 12 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. Hatchett led Hendrix with 11 rebounds and 3 blocks while notching 8 points.

The Warriors shot 36.8% from the field and 29.4% from 3PT, but went 5-of-9 from behind the arc in the second half. Hendrix turned the ball over 11 times but forced Rhodes into 11 turnovers as well, with the visitors holding a slight advantage on the boards with 40 to Hendrix's 37. The Lynx out-scored Hendrix 46-32 in the paint and also scored 28 points off of fast-breaks.