INDIANAPOLIS – On Senior Night in front of the largest crowd of the year, the University of Indianapolis women's basketball team put together one of their best efforts of the year in a 58-46 win over rival St. Joseph's.
 
Sophomore Sarah Costello set a new career high with 23 points for the Greyhounds, matching a career best with five three-pointers on the night. Playing in her final career home game, senior Princess German added 20 points for the Greyhounds, becoming the program's new record holder for most points scored in a single season with 591, surpassing the previous record of 581 held by Samantha Meissel and Kristin Turner.
 
"We played some of our best team basketball tonight, especially on the defensive end of the floor." Head coach Constantin Popa said after the game. "Any time you play well on the defensive end, you give yourself a chance to win. We've always told our team that we have the talent to win games but it takes everyone playing well to do that. The last two games we've had that from everyone and it's coming at the right time of the year."
 
Nicole Anderson added 11 points and a game high nine boards for the Greyhounds, who moved to 9-19 on the year and punched their ticket to the GLVC Tournament by picking up their seventh conference win.
 
Kalea Parks had 12 to lead the Pumas and Courtney Kvachkoff added 11 for St. Joseph's, who dropped to 18-10 overall and end the year with an 11-7 mark in conference play.
 
Both teams struggled from the floor in the early going, combining for just seven points in the opening five minutes. Following the first media timeout, Costello began to heat up from long range, knocking down all four three point attempts in the opening quarter to spark the Hounds to a 16-9 lead after one quarter.
 
UIndy stayed hot from the floor to open the second quarter, stretching their lead out to as many as 11 after a Costello jumper that made it 22-11 with 5:34 left in the half. The Pumas rallied to cut the lead down to three, but the Hounds got back-to-back fast break layups to close out the half, including German's record setting basket right before the halftime buzzer.
 
St. Joseph's cut the lead down to four early in the third, but the Greyhouds responded with an 8-0 run that pushed the lead back to double digits at 40-28 following Costello's fifth triple of the night. UIndy limited the Pumas to just eight third quarter points and held a 40-30 lead entering the fourth quarter.
 
The Greyhounds maintained their double digit lead throughout the fourth quarter and at one point, extended it to a game-high 14 following a German layup that made it 48-34 with 4:29 to go. But the Pumas got the game back to single digits thanks to consecutive threes from Kvachkoff that cut the lead to 48-40 with less than three minutes to go.
 
It was as close as the Pumas would come as the Hounds go a breakaway layup from Costello on the very next possession and eventually closed the game out by knocking down all six of their free throws down the stretch.
 
The Greyhound defense was stifling all night long, holding the Pumas to just 31.7 percent (19-for-60) shooting on the nights and just 3-for-9 from long range for one of the top three-point shooting teams in the GLVC. UIndy connected on 39.2 percent (20-for-51) of their field goals, knocking down 6-of-20 three pointers and 12-of-14 free throws.
 
St. Joseph's held a 40-35 advantage on the glass and turned 11 offensive rebounds into 12 second chance points. Both teams coughed it up 17 times with the Pumas holding a 15-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Next up for the Greyhounds is the opening round of the 2016 GLVC Women's Basketball Tournament on Sunday. The Greyhounds' opponent, location of the game and start time will be announced following the conclusion of the conference schedule on Thursday night.