LEXINGTON, Ky. – The LMU women's basketball team played their first exhibition game in several years Friday evening as they made the short trip to Kentucky, but in the end the Wildcat press wore down LMU's shorter roster as Kentucky picked up the 101-64 win.

This is the first time the two storied programs have met in any capacity.

Rachel Griffith led all scorers with a game-high 26 points, which is the most she has scored in a LMU uniform, though in this case the statistics do not count. The senior went 9-12 from the field, 5-6 from three-point range and a perfect 3-3 from the free throw line. Sophomore Maggie Jachimczuk, a Kentucky native, chipped in ten points while Emily Griffith score nine points and had a near double-double as she led all players with ten rebounds. Another Kentucky product, Lindsay Proffitt, scored six points and had five rebounds in her LMU debut.

Kentucky had five players score in double figures, led by Blair Green' 17 points. Green is the daughter of LMU's all-time leading scorer Debbie Green, who scored 1,907 points from 1988-91. Tatyana Wyatt added in 16 points, Rhyne Howard had 15 points, Taylor Murray scored 14 while Maci Morris chipped in 11 points. Wyatt led the Wildcats on the boards with nine rebounds.

Statistically, the game was a lot closer than the final score showed. UK held a narrow advantage in field goal percentage, hitting 48.8 percent while LMU hit 42.4 percent of their shots. The Lady Railsplitters were on fire behind the arc, hitting 58.8 percent of their three pointers (10-17) to Kentucky's 26.1 percent (6-23). LMU also out-shot UK at the charity stripe, hitting 66.7 of their free throws to Kentucky's 59.1 percent. Kentucky also out-rebounded LMU by a slim 40-39 margin.

The tale of the game statistically was the 31 turnovers by the Lady Railsplitters. Those translated to 41 points for the host Wildcats.

"I was very proud of our team tonight," said Lincoln Memorial head coach Krystal Evans. "I liked the way we fought. Obviously there are some things we will work on, but it was a good test for us."

LMU came out hot early on, with Rachel Griffith putting the Lady Railsplitters on the board first with the short jumper on LMU's first possession. Three pointers by Lexi Kiser and Proffitt gave provided some cushion as LMU built up a six point lead. Kentucky then went on a run to cut it to one point at the media timeout. The Wildcats came out of the timeout and went on a 17-3 run to close out the quarter.

Kentucky extended the lead to 35-15 with 7:03 remaining in the half before the Lady Railsplitters began to methodically chip away, cutting the lead to 39-33 with 1:55 remaining following a three-pointer by Rachel Griffith and a basket from her sister Emily a few seconds later. A late Wildcat run opened the lead back up to 50-35 at the half, even though LMU and UK played to a draw in the period, with each team scoring 23 points.

Rachel Griffith cut the lead to 50-38 before a basket and a free throw from UK's Wyatt sparked a 23-2 run that effectively put the game out of reach. Baskets by Jachimczuk and Brianna Marsh cut the lead to 26 before a late basket by former Bell County player Maci Morris gave Kentucky the 81-53 lead heading into the final stanza.

The teams basically traded baskets for the final frame as Kentucky, with UK outscoring LMU 20-11 for the period en route to the 101-64 victory.

The Lady Railsplitters will now have a week to prepare for their season opener as they travel to Saint Augustine, Florida to compete in the Southeast Region Crossover next Friday and Saturday. They open up the 2018-19 campaign with a 5:30 p.m. Friday tilt against the host Flagler Saints. On Saturday LMU will face the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes at 2:00 p.m. This will be the first time that the Lady Railsplitters have faced either team.