Franklin women's basketball coach Ashley Blanch wasn't entirely sure how her team would come out against a shorthanded Manchester team on Wednesday night.

Any concerns she might have had were put to rest quickly.

The Grizzlies closed the first quarter with a 17-2 blitz and never looked back, cruising to an 80-52 victory over the Spartans at the Spurlock Center.

Franklin (10-3, 5-1 HCAC) has won eight of its last nine, with the lone blemish in that span a one-point overtime loss at Mount St. Joseph.

"We came focused, and we were prepared for all their players," Blanch said. "There wasn't really a letdown, and that was noticed."

Manchester led 10-9 early before the Griz scored the next 15 points to take control of the game. Buckets from Payton Seay and Kate Breeden put the home side in front to stay, and Breeden followed with a 3-pointer to make it 16-10. Jordan Coon then hit consecutive shots, with Seay and Cameryn Ridderikhoff following with one make apiece to stretch the lead to 14.

Up 44-29 at the half, Franklin opened the third with eight straight points and eventually stretched the margin to 69-37 by the end of the period, with Ridderikhoff scoring the Grizzlies' last eight points of the quarter.

Five players scored in double figures for the Griz, led by Breeden with 20 and Coon with 18. Ridderikhoff contributed 13 points off the bench, while Seay and Molly Schulte added 10 each. Coon also had five of the team's 15 assists, and Seay had three steals to lead a defensive effort that forced 31 Spartan turnovers.

Blanch was thrilled with her team's balance and ball movement throughout.

"I looked over to (assistant coach Cyleigh Wilson) I don't know how many times and was like, 'Wow, that was a great pass,'" she said. "There was times where we could've taken it for ourselves and we didn't. We weren't selfish; it was a great team win."

Still tied atop the HCAC standings with Transylvania, the Grizzlies travel to Bluffton for an afternoon tilt on Saturday (Jan. 10).