Leedham Named NE-10 
Freshman of the Week
Ellesmere Port, England, native earns award 
for seventh time

RINDGE, N.H. (January 15, 2007) – Franklin Pierce women’s basketball standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference Freshman of the Week by the Conference office this afternoon.

            Leedham, who has now collected Freshman of the Week honors seven of a possible eight weeks during Franklin Pierce’s season, has also earned Player of the Week honors four times this year – including a string of three-straight. She appears in the “Faces in the Crowd” section of the January 15 issue of Sports Illustrated that hit newsstands over the weekend.

Leedham averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, two assists and 2.5 steals in a 1-1 week for Franklin Pierce. She hit 48.3-percent (14-of-29) of her shots from the field and converted 14-of-16 (87.5%) free-throw attempts for the week. Leedham scored 19 points, aided by 9-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line, to go with six rebounds, three steals and two assists in the Ravens 59-49 win at Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday. She totaled 24 points to go with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot at Bentley on Tuesday.

Leedham has been a big story in the Northeast-10 through the first half of the season, scoring 20-plus points in all but five games, reaching 30 points four times, and recording seven double-doubles. She has led the Ravens in scoring in 13 of their 17 games and rebounding 12 times.

Leedham leads the Northeast-10 in scoring, averaging 23.6 points (4^th in Division II), to go with a Conference-best four steals (4^th nationally), 7.9 rebounds (6^th), 3.4 assists (13^th) and 1.1 blocks (6^th) per game. She is eighth in the NE-10 in free throw shooting (.810), 11^th in field goal percentage (.494) and 12^th in three-point percentage (.358). In 12 NE-10 games, Leedham is averaging 24.5 points (1^st), 7.8 rebounds (6^th), 3.8 assists (10^th), 3.8 steals (1^st) and 1.3 blocks (4^th).

Leedham already has three school-records to her credit through the first half of her first collegiate season. She started her record setting when she converted all 13 free-throw attempts to lead Franklin Pierce to a 75-61 victory over No. 16 Stonehill College on December 2, surpassing the previous best set by former NCAA Division II free-throw champion Kelly Jewett when she was 11-for-11 against Sacred Heart University on January 15, 1992. Leedham finished that game with a season-best 39 points, the second-highest total in program history.

Leedham added another free-throw record in leading Franklin Pierce to a 67-60 overtime victory against Molloy College on December 20 when she hit 19 free-throws (23 attempts) to break the record of 17 set by Gail Harris in a win over Eastern Nazarene College on January 29, 1983, and matched by Leedham herself in a win at 25^th-ranked College of Saint Rose on December 9.

Leedham completed the hat trick when she shattered the single-game mark with 11 steals in a 79-49 triumph over Northwood (Fla.) University on December 30. The previous mark of seven was accomplished twice within the span of a month by Tricia O’Brien during the 1984-85 season.

Franklin Pierce (12-5, 8-4 NE-10) is back in action on Tuesday when it hosts Le Moyne College at 5:30 p.m. The Ravens round out the week on Saturday with a visit to 13^th-ranked Stonehill College at 1:30 p.m.