FORT SCOTT, Kan - The Independence Women's Basketball team overcame a slow start and eight point halftime deficit to give Fort Scott their first loss of the season on Monday night, 55-47. 

In a game that was a defensive slugfest for much of the night, the Lady Pirates couldn’t get much going for much of the first half, as the Greyhounds jumped out to a nine point lead after the first quarter. The Pirate deficit reached its game high of 11 at about the three minute mark of the second quarter. The Pirates were able to end the half on a 5-2 run to chip into the Greyhound lead, 25-17 at halftime. 

The tide really turned in the Pirates favor late in the third quarter. With the Greyhounds still nursing an eight point advantage, Flutra Mehtemi knocked down the first of two huge second half three pointers that sparked a 7-0 run to finish out the third quarter, cutting the Greyhound lead down to one point heading to the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, Fort Scott scored the first bucket to push their lead to three, but the Pirates answered with their best run of the night, a 13-0 run, that turned a three point deficit into a ten point lead with four minutes to go. Fort Scott looked like they had an answer as fresh out of a timeout they scored on back to back possessions to cut the Pirate lead down to six, but the Pirates took a timeout to regroup, and Rylan Chandler knocked down a jumper, followed by a pair of free throws from Jade Oliney pushed the lead back to ten and ultimately iced the game for Indy. 

The teams were nearly identical from the field as the Pirates shot 39% to the Greyhounds 38.5%. Independence got a huge boost from their bench on the night, as they totaled 34 bench points to the Greyhounds six. The Pirates also took advantage of 19 Fort Scott turnovers turning them into 24 points. 

Jade Oliney led the way with 14 points, while Danaiya Stillwell-Smith was the only other Pirate in double figures with 12, while adding seven rebounds. 

The win moves the Lady Pirates to 2-2 on the season and after dropping their first two games of the season, are back to .500 as they now prepare for a trip to New Mexico over the weekend where they will square off with Dallas-Ceder Valley on Friday, and the host school, national powerhouse New Mexico JC on Saturday.