Dodge City women's basketball returned to the win column on Wednesday, but it didn't come easy as they fended off Independence for a 61-54 victory on the road. 

The win moves the Conquistadors to 15-1 on the season and 10-1 in KJCCC action, while marking the ninth win in a row against the Pirates in the series. 

The Conqs had their fair share of struggles on the night, but started the game with a 7-2 advantage just over three minutes into the contest. The lead changed hands multiple times in the first quarter as the scoring for the Conqs was spread out. A Mailey Cunningham layup with 33 seconds remaining gave the Conqs a 25-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. The lead worked to as high as 17 with 1:41 left in the first half as the Conqs were up 41-24, and the Conqs led 41-27 at intermission. In the second half, the Conqs came out of the locker room cold shooting as Independence outscored the Conqs 11-0 in the quarter, but the Conqs remained in front 41-38 entering the fourth quarter. A Savi Mi layup early in the fourth quarter broke the ice for the Conqs offensively, and the Conqs would continually hold off the Pirates' advances to grab the 61-54 win on the road. 

Offensively, the Conqs shot just 33.3% from the floor and 25.8% from three-point range and had 16 turnovers. Defensively, the Conqs forced 16 turnovers by Independence and held the Pirates to just 32.7% shooting. 

Jolie Mantz paced the Conqs with 13 points, while Saje Evans added 12 points, and both Mailey Cunningham and Manuela Piljevic each tallied nine points. Jordi Perry had a career day, finishing with eight points and 10 rebounds.  

The Conqs are back home on Saturday, January 17th at 1:00 pm against Seward County to wrap up the first run through conference play.