Western Kentucky’s women’s basketball lost its first game of the season in a hard-fought battle at Wichita State on Sunday afternoon, 64-59, in Wichita, Kansas.

The Lady Toppers (7-1) struggled offensively, shooting 28.4% from the field during the game against the Shockers (4-6).

WKU’s Acacia Hayes scored the first points of the game on a layup after a Wichita State turnover. The Shockers tied things up, but a 3-pointer from Alexis Mead put the Lady Toppers ahead, 5-2.

Wichita State responded with a 7-0 run, but WKU followed with a 10-0 run featuring five points each from Mead and Mariama Sow off the bench. The Shockers scored the final points of the quarter to bring the score to a WKU 15-11 advantage heading into the second quarter.

WKU had a sluggish second quarter, shooting 1-of-17 from the floor and 0-of-6 from 3-point range. The Lady Toppers scored just four points in the frame, the lowest scoring quarter of the season for WKU. The Shockers took a 28-19 lead into halftime.

WKU cut into the lead in the third quarter, outscoring Wichita State, 17-15. Seven of those points came from Mead and five came from Josie Gilvin. The Lady Toppers went into the fourth quarter down, 43-36.

With 7:21 left in the game, Wichita State owned a nine-point lead. The Lady Toppers scored back-to-back baskets cut it to five, but the Shockers scored a basket of their own to extend to seven. Sow scored five straight points on a jumper and 3-pointer to get WKU within two with 5:16 left. After a Shocker bucket, Destiny Salary cut it to two again with a pair of free throws.

Wichita State responded with a 6-0 run, but then put WKU on the foul line twice to allow the Lady Toppers to get back within four. The Shockers made good on 3-of-4 free throws to go back ahead by seven before a 3 from Mead cut it back to four. With less than two seconds left, the Shockers went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to make the final score, 64-59.

WKU had its fewest points of the season in the loss, but still has not given up more than 69 points in a game this year.

Mead led WKU in scoring for the second straight game with 22 points. She has scored in double figures in seven straight games and it’s her second straight 20-point performance. She also had a season-high seven rebounds along with four assists and three steals.

Sow had her second double-digit scoring performance of the season with 12 points off the bench and had a season-high five rebounds.

Destiny Salary tied her career high in rebounds with 11 boards in the game. Gilvin also tied her career high in boards with seven.

The Lady Toppers return home to take on Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at E.A. Diddle Arena.