By: Jonah Decker, Athletic Communications Intern

FRANKLIN, Ind. - The Franklin women's team put on a dominant showing on Saturday (Feb. 1) afternoon, as they never trailed in their 75-49 victory over league foe Earlham.
 
After a slow first quarter Franklin's (14-6, 8-5 HCAC) offense picked up before halftime and expands the lead to double digits and sink the Quakers (5-15, 0-12 HCAC), giving Franklin a season sweep of their in-state rival.
 
How it Happened
With the Grizzly offense sputtering in the early going, Franklin's defense proved up to the task as they flustered Earlham at every turn. Franklin held their guests to 3-for-16 from the floor in the opening half and held a 13-7 lead after 10 minutes.
 
To open the second quarter, the Grizzlies went on an 8-0 run, breaking the game open and taking a 21-7 lead with 6:20 to go in the half. Earlham would hit back-to-back threes later in the quarter to get back within single digits at 30-22, but four Jordan Coon points closed the half and expanded Franklin's lead back to double digits at 34-22. 
 
Franklin wasted no time putting the game out of reach, starting the second half with an 11-2 run to expand the lead to 45-24. Franklin hit six threes in the third quarter to sink the hopes of an Earlham comeback and rode that big lead to a stress-free remainder of the afternoon.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Franklin outscored Earlham in the paint 38-28.
-Franklin's defense frustrated the Quakers all afternoon, holding Earlham to 32.8% (21-for-64) from the floor and 3-for-10 from three.
-Taylor Cooney led the team in points with 15.
-Jordan Coon added 14 points as she creeps closer to the 1,000-point milestone for her career. The junior guard is sitting on 956 points for her career to date.
-Brooke Grinstead added 11 points and knocked down a team-high three three-pointers.
-Freshman guard Taylor Turk made the first start of her career, finishing with six points and four rebounds in 21:35 of game time.
-Payton Seay pulled down a team-high eight rebounds as Franklin finished with a 49-40 edge on the glass.
-Briley Munchel handed out a game-high five assists with Coon and Molly Schulte recording four helpers each.
 
Up Next
Franklin will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to take on Mount St. Joseph on Wednesday (Feb. 5) night. Tipoff will be at 7:00 p.m.