INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Making their first home appearance of the new year, the University of Indianapolis women's basketball team overwhelmed Missouri S&T on Thursday night, cruising to a 77-55 win and extending their winning streak to three straight.
 
Nicole Anderson led the Greyhounds (10-5, 4-1 GLVC) with 20 points as the Greyhounds knocked down a season-high 30 field goals and connected on half of their attempts, the third straight game UIndy shot at least 50 percent from the floor.
 
Sarah Costello chipped in with 19 points and Jordan Cole had 15 of her career-high 17 points in the second quarter, setting the program record for most points in a quarter by any Greyhound since the women's game moved to a four quarter format.
 
At the other end, the Greyhounds held the Miners (6-8, 1-5 GLVC) to just 35.7 (20-for-56) percent shooting and 18.8 percent (3-for-16) from long range. The Greyhounds were especially stingy at both ends of the floor at the start of the second half, where they wasted little time putting the game out of reach.
 
"We were up at halftime and we weren't happy," Head coach Kristin Drabyn told WICR. "We were winning but we still wanted our kids to play well. We've been preaching that we need to be consistent for 40 minutes and we felt we could be better in the second half. We cleaned up our game on both ends of the floor in the second half and the rest took care of itself."
 
UIndy's defense held S&T to one field goal through opening six minutes, but early turnover troubles prevented the Hounds from blowing the game open early. The Miners would battle back to tie the game late in the first quarter, but UIndy a late fast break layup from Costello put the Hounds up 13-11 after one.
 
When the second quarter started, Cole entered the game and proceeded to take over. The Munster, Ind.-native went 6-for-7 from the floor, blowing past her previous career high of six points along the way. As a team, the Hounds shot 11-of-15 from the floor in the frame to take a 39-24 lead into the break.
 
"Jordan was wonderful tonight," Drabyn added. "She was aggressive and she did what she does well. She got to the rim, had a real solid floor game and she gave us a great effort off the bench."
 
The Hounds kept up their torrid scoring pace in the third quarter, opening the second half by 14 of the next 20 points. Costello spearheaded the run with 10 of the Hounds' points to push the lead over the 20-point threshold for the first time.
 
UIndy would not trail by less than 20 the rest of the way, extending the lead to as many as 30 before the final horn sounded.
 
Rebounds ended up being 44-30 in favor of the Greyhounds with Anderson's eight boards leading all players. The Greyhounds committed a season-low 12 turnovers on the night and outscored the Miners 38-32 in the paint.
 
The Hounds got 29 points from their bench, the most in any game this year. In addition to Cole's career day, Claire Carlton set a new personal best with seven points off the bench.
 
UIndy will have their work cut out for them if they aim to keep their winning streak alive on Saturday when the #12-ranked Drury Panthers come to town. Tip-off from Nicoson Hall is set for 1:00 p.m.