An inability to stop the Shawnee Mission Northwest High offense cost the Lawrence High girls basketball team its first Sunflower League game, 65-59, at LHS gymnasium Thursday night.

“Our defensive intensity wasn’t very high,” guard Taylor Bird said. “We kind of sat back and watched them play.”

Laissez-faire defense was particularly the case during the beginning of the third quarter when Northwest launched an 18-4 run, scoring easy baskets off fast breaks.

“Defensively we were terrible in transition to start the third,” LHS coach Kristin Mallory said. “We weren’t getting back.”

Northwest’s 6-foot-1 senior Becca Robers, who scored a team-high 18 points and ruled the boards, paced that run. The smaller Lio ns struggled to contain her dropstep.

“She was big,” said Abby Vestal, who matched up with Robers on occasion and contributed 10 points off the bench. “She made herself even bigger than she actually was. She held everybody off.”

LHS (2-2) owned the first half of the game largely because of the performance of the Bird sisters, who combined for 35 of the team’s 59 points. Taylor, a sophomore, led the Lions with 21, including three three-pointers. She also showed a flair for the dramatic, scoring a layup with four seconds left to end the first quarter.

Lawrence High's Taylor Bird (4) dishes to a teammate while guarded by Shawnee Mission Northwest's Leslie White (55). The Lions fell to the Cougars, 65-59, Thursday at LHS.

“Coach Mal just told me to take it in and take it all the way,” Bird said. “So I do what coach says.”

Taylor also ended the third quarter with a bucket at the buzzer. Danielle Bird, a junior, played well, scoring 14 points, committing few turnovers, pulling down timely rebounds and hitting four threes before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

“All around she played pretty strong,” Mallory said. “She did a good job controlling the ball.”

After struggling in the third, LHS launched a comeback in the fourth with 16 points. But any hope of squeezing out the victory came to a close when the Lions fouled to stop the clock. Senior Jessie Bocquin nailed all six of her free throw attempts in a clutch 15-point performance.

The Lions, however, had difficulty scoring after posting 71 and 92 points their last two games. Northwest implemented a zone defense, which slowed the game and forced LHS to shoot threes.

“They controlled the pace,” Mallory said. “And we didn’t push the ball enough.”

Lawrence High's sydnei tolefree (20) drives the baseline against Shawnee Mission Northwest's Amelia Jones (12). The Lions fell to the Cougars, 65-59, Thursday at LHS.

LHS also played zone defense during the second half in an attempt to contain Robers and the rest of Northwest’s interior play.

“We don’t have anybody that wants to be strong with her,” Mallory said. “That’s frustrating. “

Also frustrating was the loss, which came in the team’s first Sunflower League contest.

“It’s our first league game,” Vestal said. “So it’s pretty hard.”

The Lions, however, will receive a chance to even their record in league play when they visit Free State High for Thursday’s crosstown rivalry game.