WICHITA, Ks. -- The Missouri State Lady Bears opened the Missouri Valley Conference season Thursday with a 76-64 loss to Wichita State inside Charles Koch Arena in Wichita. Missouri State fell to 8-5 overall with the setback, while the Shockers improved to 7-6.

Wichita State made its first three shots and built its lead to 39-26 by halftime on the strength of 17-for-34 shooting and 14 MSU turnovers. The Shockers already had their lead at 13 just over nine minutes into the game at 21-8 and a 3-pointer from Lady Bear junior Desiree Phillips made it 23-15 with 8:14 to play and seemingly gave the visitors a bit of momentum.

The Shockers answered with a basket from all-conference guard Jessica Diamond, two of her 17 first-half points, and Missouri State cut the lead to single digits three more times but got no closer than eight points as WSU went back ahead by 13 at 35-22 with 2:23 to play and kept the lead to intermission.

Missouri State began the second half with two quick buckets to close to within 39-30, but the Shockers again responded and went up by 14 points 49-35 with just under 15 minutes to play. Karly Buer’s 3-pointer keyed a 6-0 Lady Bear run that made it 49-41 with 13:20 to go, and Whitney Edie hit back-to-back layups for a 51-45 deficit with 10:51 to play, MSU’s closest margin since a 14-8 score early on.

Bry Snow’s jumper in the lane made it a six-point game again at 53-47 with 8:49 to go, but the Shockers countered with a 7-0 run to lead 60-47 with six minutes left.

The Lady Bears had it back to an eight-point game at 61-53 with 4:18 left and Bry Snow’s layup with 88 seconds remaining cut WSU’s advantage to 65-58 after a frustrating series of possessions that often resulted in WSU running the shot clock down before either an MSU foul or an offensive rebound kept the ball out of Missouri State’s hands.

The Shockers spent the rest of the game thwarting Missouri State’s attempts to foul and extend the game, finishing 22-for-26 from the free throw line, including 18-for-22 in the second half, after entering the game at 65.9 percent on the season.

Missouri State shot 56 percent in the second half to improve to 46.8 percent for the game, while WSU ended at 42.4 percent overall. The Lady Bears committed 22 turnovers and trailed by nine in that category, and the Shockers won the rebounding battle by a 33-32 margin that included 17 offensive boards.

Edie led Missouri State with 14 points and Williams added 11. Christiana Shorter grabbed eight rebounds and Hannah Wilkerson dished out a team-high four assists. Diamond finished with 22 points for WSU.

The Lady Bears return to action Jan. 10 when they visit UNI. The Panthers are 5-7 overall and begin conference play Friday at Illinois State.