FRANKLIN, IN – The Franklin College women's basketball team pulled away from Hanover, 64-44, on Sunday afternoon at the Spurlock Center to win the 2012 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Championship. With the victory, FC earned the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament set to begin next week.

Franklin, the top seed and host of the tournament, trailed the Panthers 27-26 at the half and outscored their rivals by 21 in the second half to secure the school's fourth women's basketball HCAC tournament title.  Leading the way for Franklin was senior guard Sarah Condra (Nineveh, Ind./Whiteland).  The senior scored a team-high 24 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, earning the tournament Most Valuable Player award for the first time.

The Grizzlies shot 39.3% from the field and held Hanover to 24.6% shooting from the floor in the win.  Franklin connected on seven of their 16 attempts from behind the arc to help pull away from the feisty Panthers.

Courtney Prater (Anderson, Ind./Lapel) led Hanover with 26 points and seven rebounds in the championship game, earning a spot on the all-tournament team.  Junior guard Natalie Morse (Mitchell, Ind./H.S.) joined Prater on the all-tournament squad, scoring nine points with six rebounds in the loss.

Franklin junior center Jessica Prewett (Washington, Ind./H.S.) chipped in six points and three rebounds in the win and was named to the all-tournament squad.  She was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Annie Tarkington (Kokomo, Ind./Northwestern).  Tarkington, a junior guard for the Grizzlies, scored nine points with six assists and three rebounds in the championship contest.

Transylvania University's Nicole Coffman (Liberty, Ky./Casey Co.) earned the final spot on the all-tournament team for her efforts in the Pioneers' two games.

No. 15 Franklin, under head coach Kim Eiler, improved to 25-2 and will make the trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 2010.

The announcement of the Division III women's basketball field will be presented via webcast on www.ncaa.com beginning at 2:30 PM Monday.    

2012 HCAC Women's Basketball Tournament MVP: Sarah Condra, FC