ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Janisha Young scored 16 points and led four Henderson State players scoring in double figures as the unranked Lady Reddies stunned the No. 6 Delta State Lady Statesmen 68-55 on Saturday.

Henderson State (13-9, 4-3 Gulf South Conference) finished the game on 11-2 run to pull away from the Lady Statesmen (16-2, 5-2 GSC), who had pulled to within four points during the final two minutes.

The upset win by Henderson State put a damper on an a historic day for junior point guard Bug Cooper (Indianola, Miss./Gentry HS), who became the Delta State career leader in assists in the school's NCAA era. Cooper's clinched her record-breaking 564th career assist with her second assist after halftime, her fifth of the game.

Veronica Walker (Indianola, Miss./Gentry HS) scored 27 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to lead the Lady Statesmen. It was the third consecutive double-double game for Walker, who fouled out with 1:24 remaining in the game.

Cooper and Moe Bell (Madison, Miss./Madison-Ridgeland Academy) scored nine points apiece. Cooper finished the game with seven assists.

After Cooper opened the scoring with a midrange jumper 15 seconds in, the Lady Reddies took control by scoring 11 of the next 13 points to establish an 11-4 lead at the 15:21 mark.

Delta State responded by cutting the lead to 11-8 before the Lady Reddies seized momentum again, this time with a 15-4 run between the 13:58 and 6:01 marks to take a 26-12 lead. Stunned but not out, the Lady Statesmen finished the period on an 8-2 run and trailed 28-20 at the halftime.

The Lady Statesmen found field goals hard to come by in the first half, as they were held to 27 percent shooting (7-of-26) from the floor. Walker, who reached her double-double by halftime with 12 points and 10 rebounds, was 3-of-9 from the field, but a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Henderson State shot 43 percent (12-of-28) from the floor.

Delta State got as close as 33-27 in the early going after halftime before Henderson State embarked on a 9-0 run between the 16:34 and 13:47 marks of the second period.

The Lady Reddies held their double-digit lead for most of the second half, and pushed it back up to 12 with a Young layup at the 6:46 mark to make the score 54-42. However, before the Reddie crowd could begin an early celebration, the Lady Statesmen began carving away at the lead, and embarked on an 8-0 run.

Cooper's jump shot from the free throw line with 3:53 remaining capped the run and cut HSU's lead to 54-50. HSU was able to push the lead back to seven before Bell wiped it out with a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:50 remaining.

Delta State would get no closer, however, as Henderson State scored 11 of the game's final 13 points.

The Lady Statesmen shot slightly better in the second half, connecting on 39 percent (12-of-31) of their shots. Meanwhile, the Lady Reddies sizzled, shooting 63 percent (12-of-19) from the floor after halftime.

For the game, HSU outshot Delta State 51 percent to 33 percent.

The Lady Statesmen return to action Thursday when they host Ouachita Baptist at Sillers Coliseum to open the second round of the GSC round-robin schedule. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Notes: Cooper now has 566 assists, which is the most by any Lady Statesman player since DSU joined the NCAA in 1982. She is the second on the school's all-time list behind Ramona Von Boeckman, who racked up 1,005 assists during Delta State's AIAW era of the late 1970s.