FRANKLIN – The Franklin women's basketball team hosted their first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) game on Saturday (Dec. 7) afternoon, taking on the Hanover Panthers.
 
With the hosts staring at a nine-point deficit and 10 minutes to play, the Grizzlies (5-2, 1-1 HCAC) rallied to take the lead in a dramatic final minute and shock the Panthers (6-2, 2-1 HCAC) for a 71-70 win.
 
How it Happened
Facing a five-point lead late in the opening quarter, Franklin went on a 6-1 run that was capped by a Brooke Grinstead layup at the buzzer to tie the game at 13 after 10 minutes of play. A 10-2 Hanover run opened the second quarter to give the Panthers their largest lead to date at 23-15, but Franklin spent the rest of the period clawing back into the contest and headed into the break facing a 29-28 deficit.
 
Hanover started to put some space between the two sides late in the third, and a 10-3 run gave the Panthers their largest lead of the night at 55-44 with 1:56 to go in the frame. The Grizzlies got the lead down to single figures before the quarter ended, and the home side started to make their push early in the fourth quarter.
 
Taylor Cooney finished off a three-point play to get the Hanover lead down to 59-57 with 6:25 to play and the Grizzlies too their first lead of the day with 3:20 to go thanks to a Jordan Coon layup that made it 63-61 Franklin.
 
The Grizzlies held a 69-68 lead with 20 seconds to go, but Hanover took the lead back with nine seconds to play on a Grace Bezold jumper. But the Panthers failed to get back on defense and Coon had a wide-open path to the bucket to give Franklin the lead back with a layup with five seconds to go. Hanover's game-winning attempt would fall off the mark and the Grizzlies held on for their first win over their long-time rival since 2021.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Cooney dropped her second straight double-double, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
-Erica Buening chipped in with 12 points and Payton Seay added 10 points off the bench.
-Franklin shot 41.3% (31-for-75) from the floor and held the potent Panther offense to just 37.3% (25-for-67) shooting on the day.
-Rebounds were 44-41 in Franklin's favor.
-Franklin finished with 54 points in the paint to 38 for Hanover.
-The Grizzly bench added 23 points and kept the Hanover reserves scoreless.
 
Up Next
Franklin is off until next Saturday (Dec. 14), when they hit the road to take on the Berea Mountaineers. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.