On Monday night the Independence women’s basketball team continued the program’s strongest start to a season in recent history with a 61-46 win over the East Lincoln Lady Mustangs in a non-conference basketball game played at Independence High School.

The win improved the Lady Patriots to 4-1.  The last team to start the season 4-1 was the 2006-07 team,  although the 2008-09 Lady Patriots started their season with a 6-0 record.

Braylyn Milton had a big night for the Lady Patriots scoring 25 points, 15 of which came in the second half.  She also had 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.  Trinity Thompson poured in 18 points, had 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.  Ayanna Anderson added 9 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and had 1 steal.  Gracie Breckenridge had 7 points and 8 rebounds.  She also blocked 4 shots and had 1 steal.  Azuria Barrino finished the night with 2 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

The Lady Patriots opened the game with made free throws by Gracie Breckenridge and Trinity Thompson.  Then at the 5:51 mark Thompson created an East Lincoln turnover and drove for the layup giving Indy a 5-1 lead.  After an East Lincoln layup, Indy’s Laura Flynn grabbed an offensive rebound and passed to Ayanna Anderson who was under the basket to make the sore 7-3.  After which, Gracie Breckenridge gave Indy a six point lead at 9-3.  After the Mustangs made one-of-two foul shots, Indy’s Braylyn Milton went to the basket giving Indy its biggest lead 11-4.

After East Lincoln made two free throws, Indy’s Trinity Thompson grabbed a defensive rebound and drove the length of the floor and passed to Gracie Breckenridge for the score to make the score 13-6.

In the last 40 seconds of the first quarter the Lady Mustangs hit back-to-back three pointers to make the score 13-12 as the quarter came to an end.

In the first minute of the second quarter, Indy’s Braylyn Milton hit two free throws and scored on a layup giving the Lady Patriots a 17-12 lead.  However, East Lincoln tied the score on a jumper in the lane and a 3-point basket at the 6:04 mark.

With 5:50 left in the first half, Azuria Barrino pulled down an offensive rebound and scored to put Indy back in the lead 19-17.  On East Lincoln’s next possession, Trinity Thompson came up with a loose ball and scored giving Indy a 4-point lead 21-17.

At the 5:12 mark, Braylyn Milton drove to the basket to make the score 23-17 only to have the Lady Mustangs hit a 3-point basket to cut Indy’s lead to 23-20.  Twenty-three seconds later the Lady Mustangs hit a little jumper to cut Indy’s lead to 23-22.

After East Lincoln’s basket, the Lady Patriots committed a turnover and the Lady Mustangs picked up the loose ball and went coast-to-coast to take a one point lead 24-23.

With 2:58 left in the first half, Braylyn Milton hit a short jumper to put Indy back in the lead 25-24, only to have East Lincoln drain a 3-pointer to re-take the lead 27-25.

Indy’s Ayanna Anderson gave the Lady Patriots a one point lead 28-27, and Trinity Thompson’s 3-pointer gave Indy a 4-point advantage 31-27 with 1:22 left in the period.

With 44 seconds left to play, East Lincoln scored, and as the buzzer sounded the Lady Mustangs hit a layup to tie the score 31-31 as the half ended.

As the teams left the floor, it was obvious that Indy’s coach Lauren Galvani was not pleased with her team’s first half performance.  After making offensive and defensive adjustments, the Lady Patriots started the third period with an 11-0 run to take a 42-31 lead with 2:48 left in the quarter.  Behind the shooting of Braylyn Milton, Trinity Thompson and Ayanna Anderson, Indy outscored East Lincoln 18-4 to take a 49-35 third quarter lead.

In the final stanza, Braylyn Milton and Trinity Thompson added eight points to Indy’s total.  Gracie Breckenridge and Ayanna Anderson score two points each to give the Lady Patriots a 61-46 non-conference win.

East Lincoln     12   19   4  11  –  46

Independence  13  18  18  12  –  61