DIXFIELD — Even some of the most violent collisions during Monday night’s Mountain Valley Conference clash at DeFoe Gymnasium weren’t enough to draw a whistle.

Braced by that knowledge, Dirigo’s Alyssa Wade decided to step in front of a driving Kylie Kemp in hopes of preserving a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter.

“The coaches teach us a little step-back and let your body be available for contact,” Wade said. “I just tried it and somehow it worked out.”

Wade took the contact, drew the whistle and forced the final turnover in a turnover-plagued game as Dirigo held on to defeat Monmouth, 37-27, to pick up its first win of the season in its home opener.

Wade finished with 13 points and five steals to lead the Cougars (1-2), while Kayla Gaudin chipped in with seven points off the bench. Kristine Kahl poured in a game-high 16 points and eight rebounds for the Mustangs (2-2).

Dirigo jumped out to a 21-2 lead but saw the Mustangs gradually chip away to pull within five, 31-26, on Kahl’s hoop with 2:41 remaining.

Monmouth had a couple of chances to pull closer, but after Ambyr Wilson found Gaudin wide open on the baseline for a bucket that made it a seven-point game again with 1:35 remaining, Wade took the offensive foul that essentially clinched it.

Perhaps in part because of the swallowed whistles, the two teams combined for 68 turnovers. Each team also slogged through a two-point quarter — Monmouth in the first period, Dirigo in the third.

“We knew that we had to prove ourselves, being 0-2. We had to win against a good team,” Wade said. “The second half, we just came unglued, I guess.”

Using a halfcourt trap, Dirigo forced a bushel of turnovers and held Monmouth scoreless for 10 minutes to take a 15-2 lead after one and a 21-2 lead in the middle of the second quarter.

“We knew exactly what they were going to do and we just didn’t handle their pressure,” Monmouth coach Scott Wing said. “I felt that there were probably about 75 fouls that weren’t called, and that just played into their hands. They’re a physical team and they beat us up.”

“I think it could have went basically both ways,” Wade said of the physical play. “They just let it go. I don’t think it got dirty. We were just playing hard.”

Kahl’s inside bucket broke the Mustangs’ cold snap, and her three-point play sparked a 7-2 run that pulled them within 14 at halftime.

The Mustangs turned the tables with their own halfcourt trap in the second half. The Cougars caught the turnover bug and missed their first eight shots.

Yet the Mustangs could make little headway. Kahl scored all four points in the quarter as they pulled to within 10 midway through, but Kelsey Hutchins’ five-footer with one second left spoiled the shutout bid and left the Mustangs with the cold realization that they had lopped just two points off of the deficit.

“We decided in the second half that we were going to match their intensity defensively and play aggressive and physical, also,” Wing said. “It worked for a quarter and then they decided they were going to start calling it close after that, I guess.”

“I’ve got to credit (Monmouth), because they worked very hard,” Dirigo coach Reggie Weston said. “At the same time, we were our own worst enemy a lot of the time. We had some good looks, but we kept throwing things up that we didn’t need to, and we traveled a lot tonight.”

Dirigo went more than four minutes without scoring in the fourth quarter as the Mustangs narrowed the deficit to single digits on a Colby Wilson 3-pointer and a Kahl hoop that made it 29-24 with 3:19 to go. After attempting just five free throws through the first three quarters, the Cougars made four of six attempts to preserve the victory.

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