KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The 11th-seeded Greyhounds used a mix of ferocious defense and efficient offense to rout 6-seed and host Truman State 72-51 Sunday afternoon, advancing to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal – the program's sixth in a row.

In a must-win situation, UIndy (12-16, 8-10) employed stifling defense that forced 17 Truman turnovers, leading to 21 points. Freshman Sarah Costello was a defensive catalyst, racking up five of the Hounds' 11 steals.

"We did a great job on defense," Head Coach Constantin Popa told WICR. "We won the game on defense, and it's nice to see we can start on defense and finish on offense."

Offensively, the Greyhounds shot over 51 percent (22-43) from the field and 46 percent (7-13) from 3-point range, and were led by junior Princess German's 24 points off the bench.

Coming off her stellar senior night game against Saint Joseph's, Kelly Walter recorded a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds. She sank three 3-pointers, setting the program's single-season record with 77 triples this season.

Costello tallied 18 points on 6-8 shooting and four assists to go along with her five steals. She scored 8 of the Hounds' first 14 points, helping them get over a slow start offensively.

In the opening period the two squads were neck-and-neck until a late UIndy run that opened up the game in the Hounds' favor.

From the six-minute mark on the Greyhounds finished the half with a remarkable 18-0 run, turning a 14-12 advantage into a 32-12 lead by the halftime break. The Hounds went 5-for-8 from the floor during the run and sank seven freebies.

"We were really just getting locked in and everyone was kind of aware," Costello said after the win. "Everyone can pass the ball and finish, and when we rebound we can get out in fastbreaks."

But as impressive as they were with the ball, it was the Hounds' defense that truly fueled the lopsided run.

After a Kasey Gassensmith jumper with 6:02 remaining in the period made it 14-12, Truman (16-11, 10-8) hit a cold patch that lasted until nearly two minutes into the second half. Over that period, UIndy limited the 'Dogs to 0-for-9 from the floor with five turnovers in 11 possessions.

The Bulldogs shot just 5-for-25 during the opening 20 minutes, including 1-for-8 from long range, scoring just 12 points.

The officials brought quick whistles with them out of the halftime break, and before the under-12 media timeout both teams were in the bonus. UIndy was uncharacteristically poor from the charity stripe in the closing period, going 14-27 (52 percent) after entering as the sixth-best free throw shooting team in the conference.

Despite the free throw misses UIndy quelled any comeback bid by the defending GLVC Champions, leading by at least 18 points during the entire second period.

"I am absolutely proud of our team," Popa said. "We just played well together and shared the ball on offense. We were able to run a little bit and were able to get some easy layups."

Another key to the Hounds' plan was stopping Truman guard Allie Norton, the GLVC's second-best 3-point shooter and the Bulldogs' leading scorer. She scored 17 and went 5-for-6 from long range in the teams' previous meeting just two weeks ago, but Sunday was only 2-for-8 from deep.

"We had to focus on [Norton] a little bit, we had a game plan coming in," Popa noted. "She wasn't able to get any kind of a flow."

"Last time they had players that lit us up, and we made sure we were always going to know where they were and help each other out," Costello said.

Truman finished 15-for-56 (27 percent) overall and 6-for-23 (26 percent) from deep, both nearly season lows.

With Saint Joseph's falling at Quincy, 52-49, the Greyhounds are the lowest remaining seed in the GLVC Tournament, meaning they will meet top-seeded Drury (23-3, 17-1) Friday in the quarterfinal in St. Charles, Mo.

"It's good to see we're moving forward and we have a little bit of basketball left to play," Popa said. "The season is not over yet."