DIXON – It took a little while for Dixon to get into a rhythm in Friday night’s nonconference game at Lancaster Gym, but when it finally did, there was no coming back for Rock Island.

With a third quarter surge, the Duchesses (12-2) stretched their lead to double digits. Carrying that momentum into the fourth, they finished a 45-25 nonconference win over the Rocks (5-8).

“We knew the game plan coming in, and we were executing it from the start. Our shots just weren’t falling and their’s were, so we knew we were just fine,” Dixon senior Katie Drew said. “We were only down one, and we knew we had what it takes to come back.”

Rock Island got the upper hand early with a 6-2 lead in the first 2:28 on a pair of 3s by seniors DaNaijah Cartwright and Giselle Acevicz.

After Rocks sophomore Makayla Curry answered a Hallie Williamson and-1 with a pull-up jumper to tie the game 8-8, Dixon scored seven straight points to end the first quarter.

Drew knocked down two free throws and nailed a right-wing 3 around teammate Addy Lohse’s putback to build the 15-8 margin in the last two minutes.

“I think it was just our energy,” Williamson said about how the team settled in later in the first quarter. “Last year, we lost to them to get to the regional final, and so today, during walkthrough, we were like, ‘We need to come out, have this energy, so we can win and prove that last year’s loss didn’t prove anything.’ ”

Junior guard Amayah Jackson drew Rock Island within five points twice in the second quarter – 15-10 and 19-14 with two free throws and a layup – but that’s as much ground as the Duchesses would give up.

Dixon sophomore guard Morgan Hargrave buried a right-wing 3 off a Makenzie Toms kick out for a 22-14 lead with 3:15 remaining. That score held until halftime.

The Duchesses were able to offset their shooting struggles early in the game by drawing fouls and racking up points at the free throw line. They made 7 of 9 free throws in the first half.

“They’re a very aggressive team, so we knew if we protected the ball on drives, they would reach in and they could foul,” Drew said. “Then they get in foul trouble and put us at the line. That’s virtually free points, so that was big for us, for sure.”

In the third quarter, Dixon scored much more efficiently.

Drew went coast-to-coast off a steal for a 10-point lead in the first 37 seconds, then Williamson made a layup and Hargrave hit a 3 from the right wing to push the lead to 29-14. Williamson made a post-spin layup and senior Nora Fordham knocked down a left-wing 3 off a Drew drive-and-dish to give Dixon a 34-16 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

“I thought we were pretty locked in defensively at the beginning. We just didn’t shoot the basketball very well, and we haven’t been all year, so that’s kind of our downfall right now,” Rock Island coach Henry Hall said. “When you start missing layup after layup after layup, it’s going to go downhill quick. But they played hard. We just, like I said, didn’t shoot it great. I thought we defended OK. We gave up 45 points, so that’s not horrible. We’ve just have to shoot the ball better.”

Williamson widened the lead to 36-16 in the first 15 seconds of the fourth with a layup off a laser of a bounce pass from Drew.

After an Aceviz 3 cut the deficit to 17 points, Dixon sophomore Reese Dambman hit a left-wing 3, Drew hit a pull-up, free throw line jumper and Williamson made another layup for a 43-19 lead with 4:59 remaining. That 7-0 run essentially sealed the outcome.

Williamson finished with 13 points, five rebounds and a block; Drew compiled 11 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals and Hargrave totaled nine points, three rebounds and two steals for the Duchesses.

Cartwright contributed seven points and six rebounds; Jackson tallied four points, four rebounds and three steals and Aceviz added six points on two 3s for the Rocks.