WICHITA, Kan. --  Alex Harden had 23 points to lead Wichita State (23-4, 14-1) to an 80-59 win Friday night against Drake (18-8, 13-2) to take the lead in the Missouri Valley Conference race in front of 2,854 fans inside Charles Koch Arena Friday night.

Harden's 23 points brought her to within 52 points of becoming the Shockers' all-time leading scorer as she led the Shockers' five double-figure scorers.  Jamillah Bonner, Jaleesa Chapel, Kelsey Jacobs and Michaela Dapprich had 16, 12, 10 and 10 points, respectively. Chapel reached her career-high in 28 minutes of play, which included a six-of-seven effort from the line. 

WSU out-shot the Bulldogs, 46.9 percent (30-64) to 35.8 percent (19-53) for the game, out-scoring DU, 39-27 in the first half and 41-32 in the second half to avenge their only conference loss of the season at Drake, Feb. 1, 64-61. 

For Drake, Maddy Dean had 23 points, while Becca Jones had 10 points and 13 rebounds. Lizzy Wendell had 11 points to round-out the double-figure Bulldog scorers.

WSU took a 39-27 halftime lead and increased it to 48-30 with an 8-2 run, the last bucket a three-pointer by Alie Decker at 16:01.

Drake kept it within the 16-18 range over the next three minutes with two free throws and a layup until a Harden steal and Bonner layup and-one up at 12:08 gave the Shockers a 21-point lead. Harden added a layup at 11:30 for a 23-point lead.

Drake then went on an 8-0 run to close the gap to 57-42, the last on two free throws by Cortni Rush at 8:20.

The teams traded baskets until a three-pointer by Dapprich and two free throws by Bonner pushed the lead back to 20, 65-45, at 6:20.

WSU held the lead steady over the final six minutes, only letting it fall under 20 one time at the one minute mark on a Dean three-pointer, 76-58.

In the first half WSU trailed, 9-6 into the first media timeout at 15:33, but took the lead, 12-11, on a steal by Jacobs that led to a layup by Bonner at 13:27. WSU extended the lead to five at 9:22 and 8:19, but Drake battled back to close the Shocker lead to one, 7:54 on back-to-back Bulldog baskets.

The two teams traded baskets and free throws during the next 2:30 before five-straight Shocker baskets, including three by Harden to give her 15 points in the first 16 minutes, gave WSU a 33-25 lead. The fifth basket forced the Bulldogs to call timeout at the3:50 mark.

The Shockers made the lead double-digits on a Jacobs steal and Harden driving layup, 35-25, at the 1:53 mark. Four free throws by the Shockers and a Drake layup completed the first-half scoring with WSU up, 39-27.

Harden almost scored a point a minute with 19 points in the first half, while DU's Wendell had 10 points to lead Drake. WSU out-shot the Bulldogs, 48.5 percent (16-33) to 38.5 percent (10-26) from the field, while the Shockers made one of seven three pointers and the Bulldogs missed all seven shots from the arc. In addition, WSU forced 14 DU turnovers.

Wichita State in next in action 2 p.m., Sunday afternoon when UNI comes to Wichita to face the Shockers on Senior Day.  WSU will honor its three seniors after the game in their final home game of the season.

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