The Georgia women’s basketball team has tasted defeat before, but this time it was extra sour.

The No. 14 Lady Dogs scored a season-low in points and shot just 29 percent from the field  Sunday afternoon en route to a 52-42 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks in Stegeman Coliseum.

Head coach Andy Landers (left) and senior point guard Ashley Houts had a communication breakdown over Houts being benched for most of Georgia's 52-42 loss to South Carolina. Photo by ASHELY STRICKLAND

“We’ve got to do a better job of preparing to play than we did today,” head coach Andy Landers said. “I was disappointed with our defense. I felt like we let them drive and shoot too often.”

Despite committing a season-low nine turnovers and outrebounding the Gamecocks 25-17 in the second half, the Lady Dogs (19-5, 6-5) simply couldn’t put the ball through the hoop, and their inability to do so handicapped any offensive momentum.

“We missed 15 shots from within 10 feet of the basket,” Landers said. “You look at all the stats, other than shooting, and we were pretty even, but when you look at the shooting numbers, it’s pretty clear … you can’t win by scoring 42 points.”

Foul trouble and the lingering effects from an ankle injury suffered over two weeks ago limited senior point guard Ashley Houts’ playing time as coach Landers decided to sit his team leader for the all but five minutes of the second half.

“She had some pain in the first half and I didn’t think she was playing that well,” Landers said. “We didn’t talk about it with her, but the trainer came up to me at halftime and told me it was bothering her.”

However, Houts said she wasn’t clear on why she was pulled from the game and she was never given a reason for being held out.

“I guess I was in a little foul trouble but I don’t really know. The ankle’s fine but there wasn’t any point in being out there if I can’t control what’s happening,” she said. “I’m just going by what [Landers] tells me … I guess he made the decision to take me out when we didn’t have a chance to come back, but I’m just assuming.”

The Gamecocks outrebounded Georgia 22-15 and held the Lady Dogs to a miniscule 26 shooting percentage in the first half as they entered halftime with a 30-18 lead.

The domination of South Carolina (13-10, 6-5) on the boards, combined with another poor shooting effort from the Lady Dogs, led to the largest halftime deficit (12) and lowest first half point total (18) of the season for Georgia.

Adding to Georgia’s first half struggles was the absence of senior center Angel Robinson, who headed to the locker room after hitting her head on the South Carolina bench while diving for a loose ball during the first half of the low-scoring game.

The loss drops the Lady Dogs to fifth place in the SEC standings, but with the communication between head coach and star player seemingly breaking down, Georgia has other, bigger issues to worry about outside of the numbers in the wins and losses columns.

“I don’t know how to explain it … he never told me why I was out of the game, but I guess you just gotta do what you gotta do sometimes,” Houts said. “It sucks sitting on the bench but I need to work hard to get back out there.