FRANKLIN, Ind. - Franklin College was off its game in the opening half of today's Heartland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament championship contest with arch rival Hanover before a nearly full Spurlock Center gym.
But in the second period, the top-seeded Grizzlies were on.
And then they poured it on, cruising to a 64-44 victory and securing the HCAC's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III national tourney.
Franklin improved to 25-2 overall, setting a school record for team wins in a single season by a Grizzly women's basketball squad.
After taking a 6-2 lead in the early going, FC fell behind by as many as 10 points at 16-6 at the 11:39 mark of the opening half. But the host Grizzlies didn't panic , but instead buckled down on defense and whittled away at the Panthers' advantage, closing to within one point at 27-26 at the intermission.
The second half was a different story for the Lady Griz. Franklin outscored Hanover 17-4 in the first 8-1/2 minutes of the second period – while contining to smother the Panthers' shooters – to take a 43-31 lead. The second-seeded Panthers, who finished their season at 21-5, never threatened again.
FC was led by senior guard Sarah Condra (Nineveh, Ind./Whiteland Community), who scored 16 of her team-high 24 points after the break, grabbed a game-best 13 rebounds and dished out five assists. She was named the HCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Junior point guard Annelise Tarkington (Kokomo, Ind./Northwestern) tallied nine points (on a trio of 3-point baskets) and provided a game-best six assists.
Senior guard Monica Schwab (Martinsville, Ind./H.S.) and freshman backup center Lindsey Dall (Brownsburg, Ind./H.S.) chipped in eight points each and junior starting center Jess Prewett (Washington, Ind./H.S.) scored six points.
Tarkington and Prewett, who scored 11 points in FC's semifinal victory over Transylvania on Saturday, joined Condra on the All-HCAC Tournament Team.
Hanover's Courtney Prater, who tallied a game-high 26 points and pulled down seven rebounds, and Natalie Morse also were voted to the All-Tournament Team along with Transylvania's Nicole Coffman.
Franklin hit just 31.3 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half, but improved to 50 percent after halftime to finish with a 39.3 percent mark for the afternoon.
The Lady Griz's defense held the Panthers to just 16.1 percent in the second period and 24.6 percent for the game. Moreover, FC collected 52 total rebounds to Hanover's 38.
Franklin won its first HCAC tourney trophy since 2010 and captured its fourth league tournament championship overall – each in the Spurlock gym.
The Grizzlies, ranked 15th in both the most recent USA Today/ESPN Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll and D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, will find out their NCAA Division III Tournament assignment when the bracket pairings are announced on Monday afternoon.