For Ottawa junior guard Ashlynn Ganiere, the thought of shooting free throws during the past two seasons wasn’t close to the top of the list of things she wanted to do.

But in the Pirates’ 38-27 win over host Prairie Central at the Bank of Pontiac Turkey Tip-Off Tournament on Tuesday in Fairbury, Ganiere kept the full-court pressing Hawks at arm’s length in the final three minutes by knocking down seven of her eight attempts.

“My first two years I had not been very confident shooting free throws and I struggled,” Ganiere said. “Honestly, I hated having to shoot them. But I really worked on free throws a lot in the offseason and I now feel like every time I go to the line, I’m going to make them. I don’t have the nerves anymore. I just get up there and shoot them.”

Ganiere finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and a pair of assists for Ottawa (1-1), which was coming off a 32-point, season-opening loss to Mahomet-Seymour.

“We didn’t play very well [Monday] and we have a young team,” Ganiere said. “Coach [Brent] Moore talked about how those of us who have a pretty good amount of varsity experience needed to not only step up our own games but help and encourage our younger teammates. We needed to have better composure and better confidence tonight, and I thought we did.”

In a rugged opening half that saw the two teams combine for 30% field-goal shooting and 18 turnovers, the Pirates used five of Lilly Muffler’s game-high 14 points, which included three 3-pointers, to head to the final eight minutes up 22-19.

“At halftime we talked about how when we broke the press, we wanted to get downhill and take good shots if they were available,” Moore said. “Then if shots weren’t there, get set up and run the offense.

“We missed a ton of shots right at the rim in the first half and still managed to hold a one-point lead. The message was to continue to play defense like we were, rebound, and the offense will improve.”

The Pirates used a layup by Hailey Thrush, two free throws by Ganiere and one free toss by Muffler to push the lead to 30-23 with just over two minutes to play.

From there, Ottawa swished 8 of 11 free throws down the stretch to help secure its first victory of the season.

Kennedy Kane and Thrush each chipped in six points each for the Pirates, while Mary Stisser grabbed five rebounds and picked up a trio of steals.

Prairie Central, which shot 11 of 48 (23%) from the field, was led by six points each from Jayla Hammond and Adrianna Cultrell.

While Moore’s squad sank just 9 of 36 (25%) on the night, he said the key to the win was solid defense throughout and taking care of the basketball better than they did in Game 1.

“I felt like our defense tonight was extremely good, and we talked a lot before the game about how we had to be able to handle their press” Moore said. “We had way too many turnovers in Monday’s game, so the goal tonight was cut that number in half, and I think we almost did.

Ottawa wraps up pool play on Thursday when it takes on East Peoria at 5:30 p.m., then will play in a placement contest on Saturday.