Almost from the beginning, Franklin's women's basketball game against Transylvania on Wednesday evening has a "last team with the ball wins" feel to it.

That's about how it played out.

After a white-knuckle ride that featured 16 ties and 14 lead changes, the Grizzlies took over sole possession of first place in the HCAC with a monumental 76-73 overtime victory over the Pioneers, the seven-time reigning conference champions.

Transy had won the last 18 meetings in the series, including eight straight by double digits; Griz coach Ashley Blanch had never beaten the Pioneers across more than a decade as a player at Defiance or an assistant coach at Anderson and Hanover.

"This is an enormous win," said senior guard Jordan Coon, who led the way for the Griz with 24 points. "I can't even find the words for what we just did. We played as a team, we played with team chemistry. We knew going into this game that it was going to be hard, but ... we really prepared for it this week. We went hard into scout — we did at least an hour of scout every single day — and I'm exhilarated."

Franklin (12-3, 7-1) trailed 20-11 just seconds into the second quarter but responded with an 11-0 run to get back into the game. Coon scored six points during that surge, with Briley Munchel added a big 3-pointer in the middle of it. The Grizzlies led by as many as three before the Pioneers rallied to take a 35-34 edge into the half.

Twenty of Transy's 35 points were scored by guard Sierra Kemelgor, who knocked down four 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Slowing her down was a major concern for the Grizzlies — and there was no shortage of players willing to do so.

"We were just saying, 'Who's going to stop her,' and everyone said, 'Me,'" Blanch said of her team's halftime conversation. "And that's exactly what I want to hear from my team. Everyone wanted to step up and take the challenge."

Down 41-36 early in the third period, Franklin again pushed its way back by scoring eight straight points, four of those coming from Kate Breeden, to take a three-point lead. Consecutive 3s from Riley Flynn put the Pioneers back on top, 47-44, but the Grizzlies recovered and took a 50-49 lead into the final quarter.

Baskets by Payton Seay and Coon gave Franklin a 66-63 advantage with 1:06 left before a Raegan Barrett 3 — her only make in six attempts — in the final minute tied the game yet again. Transy got the ball back for a final shot in regulation but the Grizzlies got a defensive stop, with Kemelgor missing a shot just before the horn.

The extra period saw three more ties before Seay converted a post bucket with 11 seconds left to put the home team ahead. The Pioneers were fouled with 3.9 seconds to go but missed the first of two shots, leaving the Griz up one, and a pair of free throws from Munchel followed by a Transy turnover sealed the deal.

"We wanted to win this game, and I think it just showed how much heart we have, how much hustle we have, how much we're going to put out on the line for all of our teammates," Blanch said. "Our bench was phenomenal, calling out their plays, being hyped, and that's exactly what we need from everybody."

Blanch did not go deep into her bench — both Munchel and Molly Schulte played more than 44 of the 45 minutes, and only one bench player (freshman guard Avery Kelley) saw more than five minutes of action. The coach cited taking advantage of media timeouts as a big factor, but the players still had to gut it out on little rest.

"It took every ounce of everything that we had," Coon said. "We were tired, but that's basketball."

Seay and Breeden each scored 16 points in the victory, with Schulte and Munchel adding eight apiece; Schulte also handed out six assists and Munchel contributed seven rebounds and three steals. The Grizzlies were outscored 33-9 from behind the 3-point line but still prevailed thanks in part to a 50% shooting night overall (31 for 62) while the Pioneers shot just 41.3% (26 of 63).

Though the Grizzlies sit atop the league standings heading into Saturday's road trip to Rose-Hulman, Blanch cautioned against getting too cocky.

"We still have to take every single game for what it is, game after game, and know that the next one coming up is another fight," she said. "Everyone's going to be gunning for us at this point, so we just have to give everybody our best game. That's what we try to do every single time we walk on the floor."

That's exactly what they did on Wednesday night — and the result was a seismic program-shifting win that further validates the players' beliefs about who they are and what they're capable of.

"We just persevere through adversity and whatever else comes our way," Coon said, "and we do it as a team. We don't do it individually."