DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake women's basketball team battled for a full 40 minutes against Wichita State, but could not pull off the upset at the Knapp Center Thursday evening in a 74-65 loss to the Missouri Valley Conference leaders.

Drake (7-16, 2-10 MVC) freshman Ashley Bartow (Sun Prairie, Wis.) had a team-high 15 points and a career-high three steals. Sophomore Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo.) also finished in double figures with 13 points. In her first start of the year, sophomore Liza Heap (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) hauled in a career-high eight rebounds and hit her first two three-pointers of the year to finish with eight points in a career-high 35 minutes. Junior Mary Pat Specht (Shawnee, Kan.), who has now hit a three-point shot in 15 of the last 16 games, finished the game with 11 points. Junior Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo.) finished the night with eight points before fouling out while redshirt sophomore Carly Grenfell (York, Neb.) also had eight points.

With 8:19 left in the contest, a 9-2 Drake run capped by a Grenfell three-point bucket put the Blue and White on top, 48-47. The Shockers outshot the Bulldogs in the second half at a 54.2 percent clip compared to Drake's 34.4 percent shooting to slowly pull away from Drake in the final minutes.

Wichita State (17-7, 11-1 MVC) was led by Alex Harden's 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Jazimen Gordon added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Jessica Diamond chipped in with 14 points.

The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 42.1 percent from the floor, while the Shockers shot 54.2 percent in each half. Even though Wichita State won the turnover battle by one, Drake capitalized with 27 points off Shocker miscues.

The Shockers used an early 9-0 run that lasted two minutes to build early separation at 15-6. The Bulldogs bounced back with an 8-0 spurt of their own later in the period to take a 21-20 lead with 7:48 left in the half. Drake led by as many as seven points, but Wichita State clawed back to tie the game at halftime, 33-33. Clark led all scorers with 10 points at the break.

Drake will host its annual "Hoops 4 Hope" game when the Missouri State Lady Bears visit on Saturday, February 16 at 4:07 p.m. The Bulldogs will sport special pink jerseys that will be auctioned off postgame along with a limited quantity of pink basketballs with proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society. The first 500 fans will receive a pink "Hoops for Hope" t-shirt and cancer survivors will be recognized at halftime. The game versus the Lady Bears will be broadcast regionally on Mediacom Channel 22 and be a doubleheader with the Drake men's team hosting Northern Iowa at 7:07 p.m.