LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Wofford women's basketball team suffered a slow start in Memorial Coliseum Tuesday night, and the Terriers were unable to overcome the early deficit, falling 76-42 to No. 19 Kentucky. The Terriers drop to 2-1 with the result as the Wildcats improve to 3-0.
 
Kentucky outshot Wofford 46.2 percent to 20.3 percent overall and 33.3 percent to 16.7 percent from distance. Though the Wildcats outrebounded the Terriers 51-37, Wofford won the offensive glass with 16 offensive boards to Kentucky's 14. The Wofford defense forced 14 turnovers with seven steals, but Kentucky's length posed issues with 10 blocks.
 
"Kentucky's a really good team," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "To be honest, we came into this game feeling really confident. I thought we were playing well... And today, we got off to a tough start. We knew with their length and their athleticism, we were going to have to make threes and make shots, and we didn't, especially in the first half and first quarter… Kenny [Brooks] and his staff do a fantastic job. But we'll learn from this. I thought we did do some good things tonight. It took us a little while to get going, but I thought our second half and fourth quarter we played much looser. We won the offensive rebounding battle, 16 to 14, and we did a decent job of taking care of the ball."
 
Maddie Heiss led the way as one of three Terriers in double figures, netting 11 points. She added a pair of rebounds. Evangelia Paulk and Indiya Clarke each tallied 10 points with Paulk leading the rebounding efforts with five boards. Libby Privett posted five points, and Helen Matthews tallied four with four rebounds and two assists. Toni Warren rounds out the Terrier scoring with two points.
 
Molly Masingale and Sara Deidda tied for the team lead in helpers with three each. Paulk and Privett tied for the team steals lead with a pair each, and Queen Ikhiuwu recorded both of Wofford's blocks on the night. They were the first rejections of her career.
 
Wofford won the opening tip and drew a shooting foul on the first possession. Maddie Heiss converted on one of her free throw tries, and the Wildcats responded on the following possession with a second-chance bucket to claim a lead it did not surrender. The Wildcats recorded eight-straight points before Evangelia Paulk put home a layup, but UK again began to run. Heiss converted a jumper with 1:44 left in the frame, but after a quarter Wofford trailed 22-5.
 
Though UK opened the second quarter with a bucket, Paulk responded with a quick three. However, the Wildcats utilized another eight-point run thereafter. Libby Privett buried a three a little over halfway into the quarter, and despite a Wildcat response, Heiss put home a foul shot to end the half with Wofford behind 34-12. The Terrier defense stepped up in the second quarter, holding the Wildcats to 12 points.
 
Out of the halftime break, Kentucky again ran with eight-straight points. Indiya Clarke broke the run with a fastbreak paint score, but the Wildcats had an immediate three in response. Privett converted at the foul line before Clarke put home a layup. After a few UK buckets, Paulk put home a tip-in score, and Heiss converted three points. Following a Wildcat basket, Helen Matthews went inside for two points. Wofford's offense improved in the third quarter, but the Wildcats remained ahead 54-25 entering the final frame.
 
Kentucky tallied the first five points of the fourth quarter, but Clarke hit from distance for Wofford's first score of the frame. Despite back-to-back Kentucky buckets, Toni Warren scored before a Clarke three. However, before Wofford could capitalize on momentum, Kentucky went on another eight-point run. Matthews converted a pair of foul shots before Heiss did the same. Paulk drained a triple, and Heiss then put home a fastbreak score after a Matthews steal. The nine-point run was Wofford's largest of the contest, but it came late in the fourth quarter. Despite ending on a positive note, the Terriers ultimately dropped the contest 76-42 to Kentucky.
 
Ranked No. 14 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, Wofford wraps up its three-game road stint with a Saturday night bout at former Southern Conference foe Davidson. The second of back-to-back games against Wildcats tips off at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 16. Wofford will then return home one week from tonight to welcome Southern Wesleyan to Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.