Aggressive defense was the name of the game Wednesday night at Lancaster Gym, and Dixon was able to navigate it better than Kaneland in a 35-16 nonconference victory.

The Duchesses (8-0) scored the first 21 points over the opening 10:41, then held the Knights (5-3) scoreless again in the third quarter with smothering pressure defense.

“We definitely came out strong,” senior Morgan Hargrave said. “Our last game [a 41-23 win at Oswego on Monday] was a rough one, so coming out and being locked in from the start in that first quarter was what we wanted. I think we did a good job shutting them down on defense, which was our goal.”

“We had a plan, and we’ve been practicing a lot with it,” junior Ahmyrie McGowan added. “Their best player [Grace Brunscheen] is out, so we adjusted to that, and I think we just stuck to it and succeeded really well with it.”

Hargrave hit a pair of 3s in a 13-0 first quarter for Dixon, then McGowan connected with Reese Dambman on a pair of full-court baseball passes for layups off of steals as the Duchesses scored the first eight points of the second quarter.

Kaneland’s Kalie Brown scored all five points over the final 4:02 of the first half, but it was all Dixon again in the third. Hargrave scored inside on a step-through drive, then Addy Lohse stole the ball under the Knights’ basket for a layup before McGowan hit a 3 with 5 seconds left in the third to close out an 8-0 period and stretch the lead to 29-5.

“It helps a lot to be able to get stops and then be able to score when we’re aggressive as a team,” McGowan said. “It’s great to see everybody get in and play well.”

Eight different Duchesses recorded a stat, and the offense looked smooth at times, especially early on. Dixon shot just 29 percent (14-for-48) from the field and 18.8 percent (3-for-16) from 3-point range, but overcame 20 turnovers thanks in part to 19 steals and five blocked shots.

“In the first half, we were driving and kicking, which is how we really try to move our offense around,” Hargrave said. “That’s what we struggled with last game, so coming into this game and seeing that in the first half was really nice.”

Kaneland struggled to find open shots never got in a rhythm on offense. The Knights committed 26 turnovers and shot just 15 percent (6-for-40) from the field and 17.6 percent (3-for-17) from 3-point range.

“I kind of don’t have a lot of words after that. They’ve got a lot of length, and getting down early like that makes it tough,” Kaneland coach Brian Claesson said. “We pride ourselves in never quitting, and I think our girls did a good job with that, especially some of our girls off the bench. It was good to see some things there.

“It’s just one of those games where not a lot of good things happened and you’ve got to forget about it. We’ve got a big conference game against Sycamore coming up, so it’s kind of forget this, have a good practice tomorrow and get ready for Friday.”

Brown had five points and five rebounds, and Lauren Kleckner also scored five points to go with three rebounds and two assists for the Knights. Amani Meeks and Ansley Ruh each scored three points, and Lillyana Crawford added seven rebounds and four steals.

McGowan stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, nine rebounds, seven steals, four blocks and three assists, and Hargrave had 10 points, six rebounds and three steals for the Duchesses. Dambman finished with eight points, four rebounds and three assists, and Lohse chipped in four points, five rebounds and four steals.