The Austin girls basketball team ran into a physical test that it couldn’t pass as the Packers suffered their first conference loss of the season when they fell to Rochester John Marshall 85-61 in Ove Berven Gym Tuesday.

The Rockets were effective from the three-point line and inside as they closed the first half on a 16-2 run to break the game open. Abby Lewis hit a three-pointer to bring Austin within 30-23 right before the big JM run and the Packers (6-2 overall, 5-1 Big Nine) never got within single digits again.

JM was led by freshman center Lilly Meister, who poured in 29 points. The Rockets also hit some big jumps shots as Tori Gateno beat the first half buzzer with a three-pointer.

“We can live with the three-pointers. You’re not going to make every three-pointer you shoot and at some point, your’e going to miss,” Austin head coach Eric Zoske said. “What was really troubling was all of the points we gave up in the paint tonight. They had really three players that were scoring almost every time they touched the ball in the paint. If we’re talking about being physical, we did not win that matchup tonight.”

The Rockets (7-0 overall, 6-0 Big Nine) came into the game beating their opponents on average of 19 points per game. JM, which leads the Big Nine, lived up to its reputation on Tuesday behind the post play of Meister, Taylor Fautsch and Katie Hurt.

“That’s a really hard team to simulate,” Zoske said. “You’ve got 6-4, 6-1 and 6-0. It’s hard to simulate that. The only way you can fight height is by being stronger than them and they were taller and stronger than us.”

Colie Justice scored 21 points to lead the Packers.

JM 46  39  —  85

Austin 25  36  —  61

Austin scoring: Colie Justice, 21; Abby Lewis, 8; Kiwi VanZant, 7; Kyra Walters, 7; Emma Dudycha, 5; Erica Lundberg, 4; Hope Dudycha, 4; Chloe Sheehan, 3; free throws: 71 percent (5-for-7); rebounds: 30 (Walters, 5); turnovers: 11