FRANKLIN - Opening night for the Franklin women's basketball team saw the Grizzlies welcome the Spalding Golden Eagles to the Spurlock Center on Friday (Nov. 8) night and the Grizzlies rang in the new season in impressive fashion.

Three Franklin (1-0) players finished the night with at least 20 points and the home side put together a dominant third quarter display that saw the Grizzlies outscore Spalding (0-1) 37-18 in the period and roll to a 97-76 win overall. 

Senior Brooke Grinstead set career-highs with 23 points and seven three-pointers to lead all players in both categories. Junior Jordan Coon's strong second half gave her 21 points for the game and freshman Erica Buening dropped 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in her FC debut.

How it Happened
Franklin opened the game with six straight points and would lead by as many as seven in the opening quarter before the Golden Eagles battled back to take their first lead of the night with a 7-0 run to make it 18-15 late in the first. A bucket from Buening and a three from Grinstead closed out the quarter and gave the Griz a 20-18 after 10 minutes. Franklin opened up their largest lead of the first half at 38-30 with 1:45 to go in the half, but the Golden Eagles slashed the lead to one possession with a 7-2 run to finish the half and make it 40-37 at the half. 

Franklin blitzed the Golden Eagles out of the halftime break, starting the second half on a 10-2 run to stretch their lead to double-figures at 50-39. The lead would never dip back into single digits as Franklin went 14-for-21 from the floor and 4-for-7 from three on offense while holding Spalding to 4-for-14 from the floor in the pivotal third quarter. 

Inside the Box Score
-Franklin shot 47.1% (33-for-70) from the floor, going 9-for-24 from three and 22-for-28 from the line. 
-Payton Seay added 12 points for the Grizzlies to give the team four players in double figures on the nigtht. 
-Defensively, Franklin held Spalding to 38.7% (24-for-62) shooting.
-Both teams grabbed 42 rebounds on the night. 
-Franklin forced 21 Spalding turnovers, with Taylor Cooney collecting three steals. 
-Briley Munchel finished with a game-high four assists. 
-Franklin got 51 points from their bench on the night. 
-Along with Buening, Molly Schulte, Sabrina Miller, Ava Reitmeyer and Ella Kunz all made their Franklin debuts. 

Up Next
Franklin is back in the Spurlock Center on Wednesday (Nov. 13) night, hosting the University of Olivet. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.