Both Ottawa and Dixon’s girls basketball teams forced double-digit turnovers Wednesday night, but it was the Duchesses who turned their forced turnovers into points while the Pirates struggled to score throughout as Dixon came away with the 37-19 victory in Kingman Gym.

“Yeah, I thought that was a huge difference tonight,” Ottawa coach Brent Moore said. “I think nearly every turnover Dixon scored on, where we had good looks but just couldn’t get shots to fall.”

The Pirates came out with energy and solid play to start, as freshman Kennedy Kane took the Euro-step into the lane for the first points of the game, then followed that up with a 3-pointer for a 5-0 Ottawa lead.

It was all Dixon after that.

Reese Dambman started things off hitting one of two shots from the charity stripe. Presley Lappin then turned a fast break into a layup followed by a 3-pointer from Ahmyrie McGowan and a stick-back from Addy Lohse as Dixon finished the quarter on a 12-0 run for a 12-5 lead.

“We knew we had to be ready to play against a strong program like Coach Moore and the Pirates have here,” Dixon coach Luke Ravlin said. “They came out strong, and we had to adjust to that and start to put the pressure on them, and I think that’s where we took control.”

The pressure continued to haunt the Pirates in the second quarter. Turnovers led to a short jumper and a 3-pointer from Lohse, then a fast-break layup off another Pirates turnover from Dambman as the lead grew to 19-6.

Before the half ended, another Ottawa turnover led to a fast-break layup from Lappin as Dixon led 21-6, finishing the half on a 21-1 run.

In the third quarter it was much of the same, as the Pirates caused some turnovers but could not turn into points. Dixon had no trouble in both areas.

The Duchesses did a nice job moving the ball around and involving multiple scorers throughout. McGowan hit a jumper, and then Morgan Hargrave drained a shot behind the arc. Kiley Gaither’s runner in the lane pushed the lead to 28-6.

“We were very balanced tonight,” Ravlin said. “You can’t focus on one player when you do that, and we got contributions up and down the lineup tonight.”

Ottawa saw a pair of 3-pointers from Libby Muffler and Kane go halfway down and come back out, while Gaither stepped behind the arc to hit a 3-pointer before Hicks finished off a fast break for a 33-6 score – and a 33-1 run.

With 45 seconds left in the third quarter, Ottawa ended a 12-plus-minute scoring drought with a runner from Kane. Dixon led 33-8 heading into the fourth quarter.

Kane continued a solid performance in the fourth, as she hit a runner in the lane. Olivia Falaney hit a 3-pointer for the Pirates, but in the end it was too much Duchesses as Dixon came away with the 18-point victory.

“I was happy with our defense overall,” Moore said. “We just have to convert the turnovers into points. Kennedy Kane had a nice night and is just a freshman. And a shoutout to Ashlyn Ganiere and Mary Stisser, who have really taken her under their wing and are showing her the way a bit at the varsity level.

“You have players like that, and good things will come.”

Kennedy led all scorers with 11 points for Ottawa, while Lohse and McGowan had seven each and Hargrave six for Dixon.