DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Wichita State women's basketball team (9-5, 1-2 MVC) got the start it was looking for by ran into a Drake (7-7, 1-2 MVC) team hungry for a win as the Shockers fell 80-60 Thursday night at the Drake Knapp Center.

WSU was led by Marcy Sudbeck and Jacie Hoyt, who scored 12 points each on the night. Junior Ashley Gladden also registered double-digits with a career-high 10. Haleigh Lankster had seven points in her first action in three games.

Kristin Turk scored a game-high 24 for the Bulldogs, while freshman Brittnye McSperron added 18.

The Shockers snapped a skid of bad starts to score the first four points of the game and made each of their first three shots, but Drake answered with a 11-2 run to break out to an early five-point lead.

WSU closed the deficit to as few as two, but the Bulldogs slipped out on another 18-4 run over the next five minutes that would keep the Shockers down double-digits for the remainder of the half on the strength of 13 first-half free throws.

Drake went to the break up 43-27 thanks in part to an 11-6 run over the final three minutes of the first, as WSU went cold and scored just two points in the final 2:55 of the frame.

The Bulldogs shot 46.7-percent from the floor in the first, while the Shockers shot 48-percent. Drake held a 17-13 advantage on the boards including a 7-4 edge on the offensive glass that led to 13 second-chance points.

WSU came out firing in the second half, scoring the first four points forcing Drake to burn a timeout just 1:30 into the frame. The Bulldogs settled in after the timeout, going on a 15-3 run that would seal the Shockers' fate.

The Shockers are next in action at Creighon on Saturday afternoon.