FRANKLIN, Indiana – Earlham College women's basketball saw its 2019-20 season come to a close on the Spurlock Center floor with a 63-35 loss to Franklin College, in Tuesday's opening round of the 2020 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Women's Basketball Tournament.

THE BASICS

Final Score: No. 3 Franklin 63, No. 6 Earlham 35
   2020 HCAC Women's Basketball Tournament Opening Round
Location: Franklin, Indiana – Spurlock Center
Records: Earlham 8-18 / Franklin 17-8

HOW IT HAPPENED

Franklin jumped out to a 14-2 lead by the 2:16 mark of the first quarter, with the Quakers nibbling away at the deficit in the final minutes of the frame and narrowing the Grizzlies' lead to 17-7 by the end of the quarter.

The Grizzlies opened the second stanza with a 12-0 run, holding the Quakers off the scoreboard until Maddy Krodel's layup with 3:04 showing on the clock to make the score 29-9 in Franklin's favor. Franklin still held at 20-point lead, 34-14, at the halftime intermission.

A Trinity McClendon jumper followed closely by a 3-pointer from junior Kayla Bowling cut the Franklin advantage to 15 points, 37-22, before the halfway mark of the third quarter. The Quakers' momentum was quashed by a 9-0 run from the Grizzlies lasting just under five minutes, with Earlham breaking the scoreless sequence on a pair of Cambie Poole free throws. Franklin got to the end of the third quarter with a 46-26 lead.

The Grizzlies carried that momentum into the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points of the frame. The margin reached 30 points, 63-33, at the 1:34 mark on a jumper from the Grizzlies' Ashlin Aycock.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

McClendon and senior Camryn White led the Quakers with six points each, while senior Zoe Curtis contributed four points. Krodel and junior Kayla Bowling each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the Quakers. Bowling and senior Amy Weisner charted three steals on the night.

Earlham was held to 19.7 percent (12-of-61) field goal shooting, including a 3-of-21 ledger from beyond the arc, while Franklin fired at a 40.3 percent (25-of-62) clip.

Destinee Cross paced Franklin offensively with 20 points, while Jenna Cowart charted a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.

WHAT'S NEXT

Earlham women's basketball concludes its 2019-20 season with an 8-18 overall record, with the Quakers making their second HCAC Tournament appearance in the last three seasons under Head Coach Shauna Watson. The Quakers matched last year's tally of eight wins while showing a one-win improvement in their conference record over the team's 2018-19 finish.