After a pair of offensive outbursts to start the season, the University of West Georgia women's basketball team struggled to put points on the board in a 61-48 loss against Augusta State on Thursday night at The Coliseum.

The first loss of the season for the Wolves (2-1) came on a night when they shot just 29 percent from the field — including 19 percent from the 3-point line. West Georgia also committed 20 turnovers and was out-rebounded, 45-38.

"I thought [Augusta State] really played well. I thought they had a good plan. Their kids played harder than we did — it's obvious from almost any stat that you look at," UWG coach Scott Groninger said. "I think we panicked early for some reason. We talked that this was going to be a tough game, and I don't think our kids were really prepared for that."

With a strong second-half performance from Mone' Peoples, the Wolves got back in the game late in the second half. Peoples scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, going 4-of-9 from the beyond the arc.

The Lady Jaguars (2-0) built their lead in the first half while UWG struggled to score, getting a double-digit lead with just under nine minutes left in the first half. The double-digit lead stood for ASU from the 6:01 mark of the first half all the way until almost midway through the second half when Peoples had an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it an eight-point game, but Augusta State would build its lead back up to double digits for almost the rest of the night.

"When Mone' got the and-1 to cut it to eight [points], I thought we were right there. Then we had three straight really poor defensive series. Just layups after layup. It's disappointing," Groninger said.

Taylor Ayers led the Lady Jags with a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double, while Tanchelle Hollingsworth added 13 points and Becky Newhouse grabbed 10 boards.

Behind Peoples' night, Jerlisa Taylor added 12 points and, along with Shakiyla McLin, led the Wolves with seven rebounds each.

The Wolves will now have to rebound from their first loss of the season. Remaining at home, UWG will host Montevallo at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

"That's what you have to do with this situation. I know those kids feel bad in the locker room. I feel bad about it, but you don't have a choice. That game's over and you have to get ready for Tuesday against a very good Montevallo team that's going to try to do the same thing," Groninger said. "We probably needed this on some level. Every team does. It's a wake-up call."