MINT HILL, NC – The Independence Lady Patriots came home to “The Pit” and crushed the Wildcats with a convincing 44-31 conference win. This victory improves Indy’s record to 4-3 in conference competition and improved their overall season record to 13-4.

The Patriots jumped out to an 8-2 run before the Wildcats knew what hit them. Their coach called a timeout to recoup. It could have been much worse if both top scorers for Indy Kaylee Carson and Kamryn Kitchen had a hot hand as they only combined for 2 points. However, Chloe Moss, the team’s next best offensive threat drilled a 3-pointer off a nice feed from Kitchen, and scored a layup on another heads-up pass from the point guard on a fast break. Meanwhile, Tamia Burgess added 4 points of her own to give Indy a 13-8 start early in the contest.

The second period was dominated by the Patriots outscoring their opponent 13-5 to take a comfortable 26-13 edge at the intermission. Carson and Kitchen combined for 5 points, Lily Gorum 2, Moss 2, and Olivia Clark made 1-2 free throws.

However, the Lady Garinger Wildcats would not go down quietly led by Betsey Burnett, Chelsea Rivera, and Jessica Worthey. The trio combined for all the Wildcats points with the exception of just 3 in the entire second half. Burnett and Worthey knocked down a couple of 3-pointers keeping the Wildcats within striking distance especially with Indy’s top scorers struggling to make their shots. The period ended with the Wildcats outscoring the Patriots 11-10 only taking away one point off the scoreboard. Independence now had a 12 point advantage entering the final period 36-24.

In the fourth period, the two teams battled and hustled all over the court. The Patriots took command defensively with excellent work by their guards, along with tough work under the boards by Moss, Burgess, Todd, and Kaila Ingram off the bench limiting the Wildcats to a rare second shot opportunity. In the end, Indy would prevail outscoring their opponent 8-5 to clinch the 44-29 victory.

Overall, this was a good team effort by the Lady Patriots. Chloe Moss led all scorers when she had to step up with 15 points, her best game offensively on the season. Moss also collected her first double-double with 10 rebounds. Carson 9, Kitchen 6, Todd 4, Burgess 4 for the victors. While Burnett had 9 points, Worthey 8, and Rivera 7 points for the Wildcats.