ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Following a rocky end to 2016, the University of Indianapolis women's basketball team started off the New Year with an impressive 76-65 win over Missouri-St. Louis in their return to GLVC play on Thursday night.
 
Martha Burse finished with a career-high 26 points to lead all players as the Greyhound offense shot a season-best 55.1 percent (27-for-49) from the floor. Sydney Brackemyre (15), Nicole Anderson (14) and Sarah Costello (10) also hit double digits as UIndy improved to 8-5 on the year and 2-1 in conference play.
 
"We really shot the ball well from everywhere on the floor tonight," Head coach Kristin Drabyn said. "On top of that, we shared the ball, we set good screens and we got to the foul line. We had players taking good shots and anytime that happens, you give yourself a really good chance to win. Any road win in conference play is a great win and we're looking to keep this momentum going into Saturday."
 
The Greyhounds trailed for all of 16 seconds to open the game before opening up a 14-4 run that put them in front 14-6 just a little more than five minutes into the game. The Tritons cut the lead down to as little as one later in the quarter, but UIndy closed out the first with consecutive buckets to take a 24-18 lead after one.
 
Back-to-back triples from Brackemyre and Burse to open the second quarter stretched the lead to double figures for the first time. UIndy maintained a double digit lead for the majority of the second quarter, ultimately taking a 42-33 edge into the break.
 
UIndy shot 56.7 percent (17-for-30) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, their best performance from the floor in any half this year.
 
The third quarter was where the Greyhounds asserted themselves on the offensive end, going an efficient 6-for-7 from the floor and 5-for-6 at the line. Burse led the charge with 10 points in the frame, but seven Greyhound turnovers in the quarter allowed the Tritons to stay in the game as UIndy trailed 61-50 heading into the fourth.
 
The hosts had no answer for the Greyhounds at the start of the fourth quarter as UIndy extended the lead to a game-high 19 points with a 10-2 run that made it 71-52 with five minutes left. UMSL charged back to get within eight late in the game, but UIndy capitalized on their free throws late to put the game out of reach.
 
UIndy held UMSL to 35.1 percent (20-for-57) shooting on the night. Both teams went 8-for-17 from behind the arc with UIndy matching the total number of triples from their last two games on Thursday night.
 
Rebounds were 35-28 in favor of UIndy with Anderson's eight boards leading all players. The Hounds were also extremely unselfish on the offensive end, recording 17 assists on 27 field goals made. Burse and Ferguson had four helpers each for UIndy.
 
The Greyhounds look to sweep their weekend trip to St. Louis on Saturday afternoon, when they make the short trek across town to take on Maryville University. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. eastern time.