The UNA women’s basketball team continues to struggle, dropping its third-straight Gulf South Conference game with a 44-38 loss to West Georgia Thursday night.

The Lions (1-7, 0-3) could not snap their four-game losing streak, as West Georgia (2-7, 2-1) outscored UNA 31-20 in the second half.

“When the other team scores 44 points, you should win the game,” said UNA head coach Missy Tiber. “We had all the chances in the world on offense. We just didn’t put the ball in the basket. We had players that didn’t nearly look like themselves tonight.”

The first half started slow for both teams, as the Lions overcame a 9-4 first quarter deficit to lead 18-13 at the half. UNA ended the half on an 8-0 scoring run.

We had a very positive locker room at halftime,” Tiber said. “We just made adjustments on what we needed to do offensively to be better, but we just came out flat and gave them easy looks.”

Sophomore KeKe Gunter led the Lions with eight points, followed by junior Tionne Herron with seven points. Freshmen Katelyn Nunley and Katelyn Kostelc, along with sophomore Rachel Carter, each had six points in the loss. UNA was out-rebounded 51-43 in the game.

Although the Lions had a slow night offensively, the defense transitioned to a zone defense, which hindered the Wolves throughout the game.

“I wouldn’t have done anything differently (regarding the defense),” Tiber said. “We struggled early to guard and get rebounds, so I switched it up, and it was the right answer. (West Georgia) made two of 27 (three pointers), which is exactly what we wanted them to do.”

The Lions look to earn their first conference win against rival West Alabama (3-4, 0-2) Dec. 13 in Flowers Hall. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

“We played better defense tonight than in recent games,” Gunter said. “We got open shots, but couldn’t knock them down. Hopefully, we carry over our defensive efforts into the next game and finish on the offensive end.”