SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Greyhound women's basketball team has proven all year that they're comfortable playing away from their home floor. Saturday was no exception as UIndy notched their third straight win and fifth consecutive victory away from home with a 71-53 win over Illinois Springfield.
 
Five Greyhounds (13-6, 7-2 GLVC) reached double figures in points, led by 16 from junior Sarah Costello. UIndy had two other members of their backcourt reach double figures with Martha Burse and Jordan Cole adding 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Illinois Springfield (8-9, 2-7 GLVC) had no answer for Nicole Anderson and Ashley Montanez down low. Anderson had 11 points and 12 rebounds for her second straight double double and fifth on the year. Meanwhile, Montanez notched her first career double double with a season-high 10 points and a career best 14 rebounds.
 
The Greyhounds turned it on offensively in the second half, shooting 58.3 percent (14-for-24) from the floor over the final 20 minutes, helping put the game out of reach.
 
"We were able to start getting to the line and getting the ball inside and that freed up the three ball in the second half. You don't want to have to rely on the long ball but today it was falling for us. Our bench was incredible today too. Ashley (Montanez) did a great job at both ends of the floor and we got contributions from everyone in the lineup."
 
UIndy grabbed the lead on their first possession of the game and never looked back, opening up a comfortable lead thanks to a 10-2 run that closed out the first half and made it 22-12 after 10 minutes.
 
The Hounds kept it rolling in the second, stretching their lead to as many as 15 points before. The Prairie Stars got within nine late in the first half, but couldn't close the gap any further as the Hounds took a 33-20 lead into the break.
 
Defensively, the Greyhounds put on a clinic in the opening half, holding UIS to just 25.7 percent (9-for-35) shooting from the floor and 20 percent (2-for-10) from long range.
 
Thanks to 10 third quarter points from Costello, the Greyhounds' lead grew to as many as 20 midway through the period. With the game approaching a blowout, the hosts mounted a 9-2 run to close out the quarter, cutting the UIndy lead to 54-41 with one quarter to play.
 
But the lead proved to be too much for the hosts to overcome as UIndy stretched the lead back to as many as 20 once again. UIndy used an efficient attack down the stretch, going 5-for-8 from the floor and 7-for-8 from the line over the final 10 minutes to put the game on ice.
 
The Greyhounds held UIS to just 28.4 percent (19-for-67) from the floor on the night while connecting on 47.4 percent (27-for-57) of their shots. UIndy dominated the game inside, outscoring the Stars 32-16 in the paint and grabbing 48 rebounds to just 33 for the Stars.
 
UIndy will look to keep rolling this coming Thursday (Jan. 26), when they return to action on their home floor against the GLVC East Division leaders and No. 4-ranked team in the nation, the Bellarmine Knights. Tipoff from Nicoson Hall is set for 5:30 p.m.