MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The women's basketball team opened the 2015-16 campaign Friday night against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, dropping the contest at Williams Arena 98-54.
 
The Terriers (0-1) played the Gophers (1-0) tough in the first quarter, but Minnesota went on a 26-4 tear in the second quarter to break the game open, maintaining the lead the rest of the way.
 
Guard Maria Corella led the Terriers with 21 points in the game, hitting 5-10 three pointers for a new career-high. Guard Ashton Fleming had a team-high nine rebounds along with seven points, three assists and a team-high three steals.
 
Guard Chloe Wanink scored the first points of the season for the Terriers, hitting a jumper early in the first quarter on her way to eight points in her Wofford debut. The freshman also finished with a rebound and two steals.
 
Wofford held the lead one other time in the period. Down 8-7, guard Maria Corella hit a contested two-point jumper to give the Terriers a 9-8 lead. From there, Minnesota guard Rachel Banham hit a three-pointer to give the Gophers the lead back. Wofford tied the game at 11 on a Wanink jumper, but would trail the rest of the way.
 
Minnesota would outscore the Terriers 26-4 in the second period, taking a 45-15 lead into halftime. The Golden Gophers shot 6-18 from three and 11-15 from the free throw line to power their attack in the half.
 
The Terriers came out strong in the third period however, outscoring the Golden Gophers in the period 31-22. Corella hit all five of her threes and two two-point jumpers to give her 19 points in the period. Forward Kentra Washington contributed four points, four rebounds and two assists in the period, while Fleming dished out three assists and had two points as well.
 
"The way that we battled back in the third quarter, coming out after halftime and making some adjustments, shows that we put some good moments together tonight," Head Coach Edgar I. Farmer, Jr., said after the game. "We can build off of those, and that's what we want to do."
 
The Gophers proved too much for the Terriers down the stretch however, as guard Mikayla Bailey went 3-4 from three and scored 13 points in the fourth period to help close out the game.
 
"The final score doesn't reflect some of the good moments that we had tonight," Farmer, Jr., said.  "I thought the third quarter was very strong, and we're going to build off of that moving forward. It was a tough test for us, but I feel like this is something that can prepare us as we move forward."
 
The Terriers were outrebounded 62-31 in the game and shot 30.4 percent from the floor. Their shot percentage from three was better however, hitting 44.1 percent from downtown (15-34).

Freshman Peyton Walker made her first collegiate bucket and grabbed two rebounds in her debut. Freshman Marissa Bayer and redshirt sophomore Amoshia Blakeney also made their Terrier debuts Friday, with Blakeney grabbing two rebounds and Bayer grabbing one rebound.
 
Bailey recorded a double-double for the Gophers with 26 points on 10-16 shooting, including 6-11 from three, 13 rebounds, and five assists. Banham added 18 points, six rebounds and three assists as well.
 
The loss pushes Wofford's losing streak in home openers to four games dating back to the 2011-12 season.
 
Wofford's next contest is the home opener Tuesday night against UNC Asheville. That game will start at 6 p.m.