When Olivia Lemus saw her potential game-tying shot fall short and heard the final buzzer sound Tuesday, she walked over to the handshake line and pulled her jersey up to her eyes.

For Lawrence High’s girls basketball team, it felt like a game that slipped away.

It was every bit of the slugfest that was expected between two teams ranked inside of the top 10 in the state, but the Lions lost to Shawnee Mission Northwest, 45-42, at LHS.

Trailing by three points with four seconds left, the Lions inbounded the ball from half court, but Lemus didn’t have enough space for a clean look at the rim.

“We’ve all seen Olivia play over the last four years and for her to miss it by five feet, I have to believe she got fouled,” LHS coach Jeff Dickson said. “But they decided not to call that and that’s how it goes.”

The 10th-ranked Cougars (11-4, 3-3 in Sunflower League) opened the fourth quarter with a 7-1 run, taking a three-point lead on a 3-pointer from senior guard Gena Ojeda, the younger sister of LHS assistant coach Elissa Ojeda.

The Lions tied the score with three minutes left on a put-back from 6-foot-3 sophomore Chisom Ajekwu (10 points, eight rebounds, 3 blocks), but the Cougars earned trips to the free throw line on their final four possessions.

Prior to Lemus’ attempt at the buzzer, Lawrence trailed by two points with 40 seconds left after SM Northwest missed the front-end of a one-and-one free throw.

The Lions put the ball in junior E’lease Stafford’s hands, but she was called for a travel when she started driving to the rim. Stafford led the Lions with 12 points, including eight in the second half.

“We didn’t do a very good job defending down the stretch,” Dickson said. “We didn’t do a very good job of defending without fouling. In a tight game like that, they made more plays down the stretch than we did.

“I thought we got on our heels a little bit, and I don’t know why. That’s something that we have to work out.”

The seventh-ranked Lions (11-4, 3-3) led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter when they made their first five shots from the field. That included two straight layups from Ajekwu and 3-pointers from Lemus and senior Skylar Drum.

But eventually, the Lions slowed on offense against SM Northwest’s zone defense. They only made two shots in the final six minutes of the second quarter — both from sophomore point guard Hannah Stewart.

“I think Hannah is one of the top point guards in the state,” Dickson said. “She was definitely the best guard on the floor tonight. She battles and fights and claws and scratch.”

The Lions will play host to Olathe Northwest at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

SM NORTHWEST (45)

Gena Ojeda 1-7 0-0 3, Emmalee Rose 2-3 5-6 11, Hannah Black 4-7 3-6 12, Jordann Nachbar 6-11 3-3 15, Sarah Petersen 1-1 2-5 4, Megan Nugent 0-3 0-0 0, Haley Nunnink 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-33 13-20 45.

LAWRENCE (42)

Hannah Stewart 3-7 0-0 6, Olivia Lemus 3-5 0-0 7, Skylar Drum 2-5 0-0 5, E’lease Stafford 3-10 6-7 12, Chisom Ajekwu 4-8 2-4 10, Tyrin Cosey 1-2 0-0 2, Asia Goodwin 0-2 0-0 0, Sammy Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Tamo Thomas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-39 8-11 42.

Northwest 10 8 13 14 — 45

Lawrence 15 6 13 8 — 42

Three-point goals: SM Northwest 4-13 (Rose 2, Ojeda, Black); Lawrence 2-9 (Lemus, Drum). Turnovers: SM Northwest 11, Lawrence 13.