FLORENCE, Ala. - A slow first quarter was too much to overcome on the road for the UWG women's basketball team on Saturday night as the Wolves fell 82-73 to the North Alabama Lions in Atlantic Sun Conference play.  

After West Georgia (8-13, 2-8 ASUN) was outscored 25-8 in the opening quarter by North Alabama (11-10, 6-4 ASUN), the Wolves outscored the Lions, 65-57 in the final three quarters, and 48-33 in the second half, but ran out of time in the first meeting against UNA as a Division I opponent. 

Amanda Blake led a trio of double-digit scorers, dropping a career-high 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting. The senior also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. 

Joining Blake in double-figures was Destiny Jones with 14, and Zuriyah Davis with 13.  

An early West Georgia scoring drought gave UNA an early advantage as the Lions went on a 16-0 run in the first quarter, turning what was a 6-6 tie into a 19-point lead late in the opening quarter. An Amanda Blake layup in the final minute of the first ended the drought, but UNA led by 17 after 10 minutes of play. 

The Wolves' offense found their groove in the second quarter, but unfortunately, the Lions continued their great shooting, finishing the half with a 51 percent clip from the field and six three-pointers. UNA outscored the Wolves 24-17 to take a 49-25 advantage into the locker room at the half. 

West Georgia won the third quarter, turning it up on both ends to outscore UNA 21-13. Offensively, the Wolves shot 50 percent (9-of-18) from the field while the defense forced six turnovers to get as close as 11 on a Sydne Tolbert layup at the 2:37 mark of the period. 

UNA would eventually get the lead back up over 20 early in the final quarter, and the Wolves chipped away once more to force a Lions timeout with 2:32 and UNA up by 12 points. 

A steal and a floater in the lane by Tolbert cut the UNA lead to single-digits for the first time since the first quarter, but it was too little, too late for the Wolves on the road. 

The Wolves matched UNA, the ASUN's second-best rebounding team, on the glass 35-35, but UWG had a 17-12 advantage in second chance points. A big difference in the box score was long range shooting as the Lions doubled UWG's total of five three-pointers with 10. 

West Georgia stays on the road for the next week, heading to Nashville on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game at Lipscomb on February 5.