The Mississippi State women’s basketball team suffered its first defeat in more than a month Sunday, falling to No. 18 Kentucky 73-62 in Lexington.

“I just thought (Kentucky) was sensational today,” coach Vic Schaefer said postgame. “I thought they out-toughed us. They were more physical, more aggressive.”

Despite outscoring the Wildcats 21-16 over the game’s final 10 minutes, the Bulldogs totaled just nine points in the first and third quarters — shooting just 26.9 percent from the field in those frames.

MSU received solid offensive contributions from freshman guard Rickea Jackson, sophomore center Jessika Carter, while junior guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter provided instant-offense off the bench in a 12-point effort.

Jackson notched her sixth-straight double-digit performance, concluding her day with 16 points on 9 of 20 shooting — 14 points of which came in the fourth quarter.

Carter, who had earned two fouls in the first half of five of her past seven games, avoided foul trouble Sunday — scoring 18 points in 32 minutes of action.

Defensively, the Bulldogs struggled to contain Southeastern Conference scoring leader Rhyne Howard. Howard — who entered the contest averaging 23.1 points per game — had missed three of Kentucky’s previous four games due to injury. And while the effects may have lingered, she looked the part of the SEC’s most dangerous offensive threat, finishing with 26 points on 10 of 22 shooting.

Guard Chasity Patterson also added 15 points for the Wildcats off the bench in just 19 minutes played.

“She really gives them a different dimension because she’s another player that can create her own shot,” Schaefer said. “So now you’ve got her and Howard and that makes it very difficult unless you have two players on your team that can defend on the perimeter. But we really struggled tonight with that second defender.

With the loss, MSU is now 2-2 against Associated Press top 25 teams this season, having previously dropped a game at No. 1 South Carolina Jan. 20.

The Bulldogs next hit the road for a meeting with Auburn Thursday before closing the season with home contests against Alabama and No. 23 Arkansas and an away game versus in-state rival Ole Miss.

“We’re going to learn from it,” Schaefer said of Sunday’s loss. “To be what we are at 22-4 with this young group, I’ve been proud of them all year. I’m disappointed in today, but we ran into a really good team and a big crowd and sometimes that happens.”

Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.