DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake women's basketball team struggled against a tough Indiana State defense, shooting just 32 percent and committing 20 turnovers in a 67-49 loss Friday night at the Knapp Center in front of 1,942 fans.  

The Sycamores entered Friday's contest ranked 12^th in the nation (first in the Missouri Valley Conference) defensively at points allowed per game at 50.3. Indiana State held the Bulldogs to their second lowest scoring output of the season, as they improve to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the MVC.

"They are a phenomenal defensive team that really showed their maturity tonight," Drake head coach Jennie Baranczyk said. "They are a complete team that is doing a nice job with a phenomenal point guard, wing player and inside player."

Sophomore Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo.) paced the Bulldogs with 13 points as the loss drops their record to 5-9 overall and 0-3 in the MVC. Junior Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo.) tallied nine points and 10 rebounds before fouling out. Guard Carly Grenfell (York, Neb.) added 11 points.

Racheal Mahan led the way for the Sycamores with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and added seven rebounds. Taylor Whitley added 20 points for ISU.

The two teams traded baskets for much of the first half, until a late 15-3 run, capped by Whitley's jumper with 1:41 remaining, sent the Sycamores to the locker room with a 33-18  halftime lead.

"We have to find other ways to score when we can't shot the ball well from the outside," Baranczyk said. "We did a great job of getting to the free throw line but we have to start knocking those down and that part will start to come definitely."

Indiana State extended its lead in the second half, stretching it to 23 on Whitley's layup with 13:07 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs brought the lead back down to 16 twice, but were unable to get any close to the Sycamores.

Drake knocked down a season-high 19 free throws on 29 attempts. The Bulldogs committed just four turnovers in the second half.

The Bulldogs next game is Sunday afternoon at the Knapp Center against Illinois State (10-5, 2-1 MVC). The Redbirds were defeated by Creighton, 64-45, Friday night in Omaha. Tip-off is set for 2:05 p.m. Drake's next game at Missouri State next Saturday, Jan. 19 has been moved to a noon start from 2:05 p.m.

"We are going to come back hungry tomorrow at practice," Baranczyk said. "We talked about this in the locker room but I'm not going to quit, our staff isn't going to quit and our players aren't going to quit. It doesn't matter what our record is or what the score of the game is. We have to be ready to come out and play Sunday."