AMES — For the first 12 minutes of game time here on Friday, the Fort Dodge girls basketball team played arguably their best stretch of the season.

The Dodgers led Iowa Alliance Conference North division leader Ames by six points on the Little Cyclones’ home court and were clicking offensively in doing so.

That’s when Ames ramped up the full-court pressure and frustrated the visitors into a tailspin of mistakes, which ultimately turned into a 54-36 victory for the Little Cyclones.

Fort Dodge (6-12 overall, 0-8 in the IAC North) led by a point after the opening quarter, then extended its advantage to 21-15 with less than four minutes left until halftime. Ames (8-8, 6-0) knotted things up by halftime, though, holding the Dodgers scoreless for the rest of the second period with an aggressive, physical press from the in-bounds play on.

The Little Cyclones then went on a 20-3 run from the start of the third quarter until the final minute of that frame to take complete control and stay perfect atop the conference.

“We did a really nice job of executing our gameplan and bringing the fight to them early on,” FDSH head coach Scott Messerly said. “The energy was good and we got LJ (Maehl) a lot of better looks and in one-on-one situations by running her off the baseline.

“When they (increased the pressure), we were just making it harder on ourselves than it needed to be over and over again. It really threw us off and we lost all the confidence and momentum we had built.”

The Dodgers wound up committing 38 turnovers in all. Ames took advantage of a quieter whistle defensively, while also getting to the free throw line 26 times compared to only eight for FDSH.

Senior Natalya Deardorff alone attempted 16 free throws, including 14 in the second half. The Little Cyclones outscored the Dodgers 18-7 at the charity stripe.

Maehl had 22 points and 16 rebounds for Fort Dodge to lead all scorers. Freshman Brooklyn Gilliland added eight.

Sophomore Natalya Singh paced Ames with 19 points. Freshman Lyza Britten added 12.

The Little Cyclones are now 19-3 in league play over the last three years.

“We just weren’t able to sustain it, but the effort was much better than (the night before in a loss to Mason City at home),” Messerly said. “We really need to go over some film and go over making better decisions and taking better angles on passes (in trying to break the press). You can’t turn it over nearly 40 times on the road and expect to stay in it. That’s way too many extra possessions (for Ames).”

The Dodgers are now off until Thursday, when they host Storm Lake before a Friday contest in the FDSH gym against Des Moines North.

AMES 54, FORT DODGE 36

Ames — Natalya Singh 6 5-7 19, Lyza Britten 4 2-2 12, Natalya Deardorff 2 5-16 9, Victoria Williams 3 0-0 6, Sophia Thatcher 2 0-1 4, Parker Bivins 1 0-0 2, Cassidy Wollner 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 12-26 54.

Fort Dodge — LJ Maehl 8 4-4 22, Brooklyn Gilliland 3 1-2 8, Malay Hollins 0 2-2 2, Grace Nichols 1 0-0 2, Ellie Doster 0 0-0 0, Charlotte Breeser 1 0-0 2, Linnie Pratt 0 0-0 0, Macy Wills 0 0-0 0, Emma Lloyd 0 0-0 0, Bella Lee 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 6-7 36.

Quarter scores: Fort Dodge led 13-12; Tied 21-21; Ames led 41-28. Three-point goals: Ames 4 (Singh 2, Britten 2); Fort Dodge 3 (Maehl 2, Gilliland 1).