A solid lineup's worth of former Franklin women's basketball players braved the elements on Saturday afternoon to watch the current Grizzlies take on Berea.

This year's group delivered a performance its predecessors could be proud of.

A stifling defensive effort across the first three quarters helped Franklin pull ahead by as many as 28 points on the way to a comfortable 81-66 victory on Alumnae Day at the Spurlock Center.

"I am very proud of our players for the execution of the game plan and their hustle on both ends of the floor," Griz coach Ashley Blanch said. "We did a lot of little things today and it was a great team win."

The Grizzlies (6-2, 3-0 HCAC) took the lead for good at 5-4 on a Jordan Coon basket and stretched that early advantage by scoring the next eight points. They went up 24-9 on a Lydia Wright 3-pointer early in the second quarter and coasted into halftime with a 38-22 cushion.

Berea got as close as 44-32 in the third before the home team closed with a 20-5 surge over the final five and a half minutes of the period to stretch the lead out to 64-37. Coon had seven points during the run, which was also highlighted by a Kate Breeden 3 and a buzzer-beating layup by Molly Schulte.

The Griz advantage peaked at 76-48 on a Taylor Turk layup with 6:29 to go in the game before the Mountaineers made a late charge against the Franklin bench. The visitors, who made just 1 of 14 from long range over the first three quarters, hit five 3s in the fourth.

Coon and Briley Munchel each finished with 15 points to lead a balanced Grizzly offense. Coon added seven rebounds and a team-leading five steals, while Munchel dished out eight assists. Turk scored 12 points and Breeden 11, while Payton Seay contributed nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Breeden and Sophia Saucerman also helped spearhead a defensive effort in the paint that limited Berea's LynKaylah James to 11 points and 12 boards, both well off her season averages.

Franklin returns to the court on Tuesday (Dec. 16) evening when it travels to Mount St. Joseph for its final conference game of December; the Grizzlies will then head south for a pair of weekend games at the Puerto Rico Clasico before playing their next home game Jan. 3 against Earlham.

"We are grateful to the alumni that were able to attend and hope to have more at the next event," Blanch added. "It's a great day to be a Grizzly!"