NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 85, Franklin 63
Records: Piedmont, 7-4; Franklin, 4-5

GREENCASTLE, Ind. - The Piedmont women's basketball team led wire-to-wire, taking down Franklin College 85-63 on Wednesday afternoon in its opening game of the Amy Hasbrook Memorial Tournament in Greencastle, Indiana.

The Lady Lions established their dominance early in their first action in two weeks, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter thanks to outstanding pressure defense.

LIVIA SKINNER continued her outstanding season, leading the Lady Lions with 22 points while adding eight rebounds and five steals. Junior NAKIYAH WASHINGTON delivered a breakout game as well, tying her season high with 20 points in just 17 minutes of action. She also made an impact on the defensive end, with a season-best five steals.

The defensive intensity from Piedmont was suffocating in the early going, forcing the Grizzlies to commit 11 turnovers over the first 10 minutes. The Lady Lions parlayed those turnovers into a 23-11 lead heading to the second. The lead could have been more, but they only converted on 4 of their 11 first quarter free throws.

The Grizzlies were able to claw their way back into the contest in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Lions 16-13 in the period to cut their halftime deficit to single digits. Skinner led Piedmont with 12 first-half points while Washington added 10 on 4-of-5 shooting, all of which came in the first quarter.

Piedmont was able to push its lead to as many as 17 points late in the third quarter to nearly put the game away. However, the Grizzlies battled back at the end of the period to cut the Piedmont lead to 59-47 with 10 minutes to play.

The final 10 minutes belonged squarely to the Lady Lions. They shot 10-of-20 from the field led by eight points from Washington while also forcing eight Franklin turnovers to run away with the 22-point victory.

Up next, the Lady Lions will take on host school No. 9 DePauw tomorrow, Dec. 30 at 4 p.m.

TURNING POINT:
- After the Grizzlies battled to hang around for most of the contest, Piedmont removed all doubt by closing the game with an 18-8 run over the final six minutes of play.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- Skinner once again led the way for the Lady Lions, racking up a game-high 22 points on eight field goals made. For Skinner, it marked her fourth game of the season with 20 or more points.
- Washington delivered her best all-around performance of the season, scoring 20 points to go with five steals despite battling foul trouble for most of the contest, limiting the junior forward to just 17 minutes.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Piedmont forced 19 turnovers over the first and fourth quarters, leading to a combined 49-27 scoring advantage in those periods, which proved to be the margin of victory.
- The Lady Lions also dominated on the glass, pulling down 52 rebounds compared to 42 for Franklin.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
-To stay up to date on all information regarding Piedmont University Athletics, be sure to visit PiedmontLions.com and connect with the Green and Gold on social media. Follow the Lions on Twitter: @PiedmontLions, Instagram: @PiedmontLions, and Facebook. To follow each Piedmont athletic program on social media, use the Social Media Directory at PiedmontLions.com or click here.