The first quarter has not been friendly to Lawrence High’s girls basketball team this season. That changed on Tuesday against Shawnee Mission East.

The Lions stormed out to a big lead, drilling shots and forcing turnovers on defense. After that, they cruised to a 52-40 road victory. It’s the first time the Lions have won three straight games since the 2010-11 season.

SM East scored the first two points, and the Lions answered with the next 16. Senior point guard Marissa Pope scored six points, driving through the lane and picking up fouls to go to the free throw line.

In the final 90 seconds of the first quarter, freshman guard E’lease Stafford hit two three-pointers, including a buzzer-beater, and sophomore guard Skylar Drum added a layup-and-the-foul score for an eventual 19-4 advantage.

“We’re coming together,” LHS coach Jeff Dickson said. “We’re starting to understand what it takes to compete at this level and how you’ve got to be focused and ready to play every time out. It’s taken awhile for us to get there but it’s starting to happen and I think they’re understanding that part of it. It’s a heck of lot more fun to play that way.”

Last month, the Lions were outscored in the first quarter in five of their seven games, including a few by more than 14 points.

On Tuesday, Lawrence (6-13, 3-7 in the Sunflower League) played aggressive defense in the first quarter, forcing six turnovers and seven straight missed shots by SM East.

“I think we just came out ready to play and we were all focused,” Pope said. “We all wanted it from the start.”

LHS jumped to a 22-point lead midway through the third quarter with a 10-4 run to open the second half. Junior forward Alexis Boyd scored six points in the spurt, Pope had a layup and senior forward Matia Finley hit a turnaround shot.

The Lancers (1-18, 1-9) went on a run of their own, 10-1, to close within 13 at the end of the third quarter. But the Lions never let them get any closer until their lead dipped to 12 in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

Stafford scored five straight points for the Lions to start the fourth quarter and Finley scored on a layup-and-the-foul.

“We just kept our heads, really,” Finley said. “We just tried to stay calm. We had a big enough lead where we didn’t have to stress about it.”

Pope finished with a game-high 17 points despite playing most of the game in foul trouble. She played the final seven minutes with four fouls.

“She does a good job of playing through that, which she did tonight,” Dickson said. “She stayed in the game and was huge for us down the stretch. That’s a tribute to her as a senior.”

The Lions also got another big lift from senior forwards Matia Finley and Rebecca Finley, who both played in very limited minutes at the beginning of the season. Matia Finley scored six points and added 10 rebounds, while Rebecca Finley had six rebounds off of the bench.

“Once they got the opportunity, they’ve just continued to improve and continued to stay engage,” Dickson said. “It’s been fantastic. Matia has been unbelievable. … Rebecca has continued to work hard and has earned solid minutes for us. We’re a much better team with those two on the floor.”

LAWRENCE (52)

Olivia Lemus 2-6 2-2 6, E’lease Stafford 4-9 1-2 11, Marissa Pope 5-11 6-9 17, Matia Finley 3-8 0-3 6, Alexis Boyd 3-6 2-4 8, Rebecca Finley 0-1 0-0 0, Skylar Drum 1-6 2-3 4, Madison McKinney 0-0 0-0 0, Gracie Reinsch 0-0 0-0 0, Asia Goodwin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 13-23 52.

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST (40)

Konner Pendland 2-7 2-2 6, Hannah Nick 2-10 1-2 6, Emma Braasch 4-11 4-7 12, Emma Linscott 0-2 0-0 0, Rachel Haskell 1-3 1-3 3, Katie Spradling 0-6 0-1 0, Josie Clough 4-8 4-6 13. Totals 13-47 12-21 40.

Lawrence 19 12 11 10 — 52

SM East 4 11 14 11 — 40

Three-point field goals: Lawrence 3-16 (Stafford 2, Pope); SM East 2-14 (Nick, Clough). Turnovers: Lawrence 12, SM East 13.