WICHITA ? Despite 14 points each from its two seniors Marcy Sudbeck and Daria Frazier, the Shockers took the defeat 63-56 to Evansville on Senior Day inside Charles Koch Arena.

The Shockers missed 14 of their first 16 shots from the field, but battled back from an early 15-point deficit to cut the Evansville lead to just two in the last five minutes, but the Aces' Robyn Jennings knocked down five straight shots in the second half to keep the Shockers at arm's length.

Sudbeck added 11 rebounds to her 14-point effort for a double-double, while Val Siemens was also in double figures with 10 points for WSU. Shocker point guard Marisah Henderson had 10 assists and 10 rebounds to go along with four points. Ashley Austin led all scorers for the Aces with 18 points, Jennings added 12 and Shannon Novosel chipped in 10.

Evansville got out to a hot shooting start in the game's opening five minutes, making 8-of-10 to build a 19-5 lead. The Aces' Ashley Austin scored six points during the stretch.

Val Siemens broke a 2-of-16 shooting slump by the Shockers with a stop-and-pop three-pointer out of the fastbreak. Sudbeck scored a layup on a drive and dish from Haleigh Lankster to bring the game back to within 10, 21-11, but Evansville answered with a three to keep the Shockers at a distance with 9:06 left.

After UE pushed the lead to 26-11, WSU went on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 28-18 with 6:31 left in the half. Daria Frazier beat the shot clock with a long jumper and Siemens drilled another three to spur the run.

The Shockers got the deficit back into single digits with a Jacie Hoyt three-pointer with just over a minute to play in the half.

Turnovers plagued the Shockers in the first half, amassing 13, to lead to the 33-24 deficit. Hoyt and Frazier each scored five points to lead WSU, while UE's Austin scored 11 to lead all scorers.

Wichita State got off to a hot start in the second half knocking down three straight shots, including two Sudbeck layins and a Siemens jumper, but Austin answered again for Evansville to push the lead back to nine, 39-30 at the 16:30 mark.

After the Evansville lead grew back to 12 points, the Shockers battled back into the game with a 9-2 run, capped by a steal and layup from Siemens, to make the score 44-39 with 13:11 to play.

The Shockers traded buckets with Evansville over the next four minutes before closing the lead to just two points, 50-48, on a Daria Frazier put back with under six minutes left.

The Shockers play the final two games of the regular season on the road at Northern Iowa on Thursday and at Bradley on Saturday.

--WICHITA STATE--