LAKEWOOD — Cougar girls basketball looked for its first win of the season as they hosted Northwest Conference’s Mount Baker Mountaineers on Dec. 21.

The elusive win would have to wait as the Mountaineers’ tough defense propelled them to a 71-11 romp.

“They knocked us out of the playoffs last year, so they knew who we were,” Lakewood head coach Chris Walster said. “(Cougar senior) Kayley Diggs is an all-league second-team post and their defense knew it. We want to go inside on offense and put pressure on with man defense, but without her presence inside there was more pressure on the other players.”

Mount Baker held Lakewood, which was missing four varsity players that night, scoreless in first quarter, conceded seven points in the second quarter and two points in both the third and fourth quarters.

The Mountaineer defense generated innumerable steals that yielded numerous trips to the free throw line as Lakewood fought to slow them down off the dribble.

Mount Baker won the rebound battle throughout the game. No matter how many shots they missed, they drew fouls as they kept corralling rebounds for second-chance shots. Lakewood’s 17 fouls in the game helped the Mountaineers finish 23 of 31 from the free throw line.

Lakewood senior Kayley Diggs pulled down rebounds to give the Cougars a presence in the key, but Lakewood’s shots were not falling.

“In three league games this year Diggs has been double-teamed and it puts pressure on the other players like (senior Caitlyn) Darrah,” said Walster.

Darrah led the Cougars in scoring with three points.

Mount Baker senior guard Kristin Frey, freshman post Emily Yost, senior post Katie Stalin and senior guard Connor Hart scored in double digits. Lakewood did not attempt a three-pointer all night.

“These guys are very aggressive,” Walster said. “They came out in a 1-3-1 zone after halftime so we had to get the ball in the gap, but we had trouble. We suffocated under the pressure and our limited experience at the guard positions is where it hurt us the most.”