As maiden head coaching voyages go, it's hard to start off much better than Ashley Blanch has.

Turning Franklin women's basketball into a title contender as a rookie, Blanch was recognized by her peers as the HCAC Coach of the Year on Wednesday.

Previously an assistant at Anderson, Mansfield (Pennsylvania) and then Hanover, Blanch took the Grizzly reins in June. She took a team that was picked sixth in the league's preseason poll and guided it to a second-place finish. Franklin won 20 games for the first time since the 2012-13 season, racking up seven in a row during a streak that stretched across December and January. Included in that run was a 76-73 overtime victory over Transylvania on Jan. 14, the first time the Griz had knocked off the Pioneers in 10 years.

Blanch has piloted a Franklin team with an explosive offense that scores 74.4 points per game. The Grizzlies have cracked the 80-point mark eight times, with a high of 90 at Earlham on Jan. 24, and have done so with a balanced lineup; all five starters average 7.7 points or more, led by first team All-HCAC pick Jordan Coon at 17.1.

A native of Leipsic, Ohio, Blanch was on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Thirty Under 30 list for the 2024-25 season.

The Grizzlies take on Anderson in an HCAC tournament semifinal on Friday afternoon (3 p.m.)