Leedham Earns Both NE-10
Weekly Honors for Sixth Time
Ellesmere Port, England, native named Co-Player
and Freshman of the Week for second-straight week

RINDGE, N.H. (February 5, 2007) – Franklin Pierce women’s basketball standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference’s Co-Player as well as Freshman of the Week by the Conference office this afternoon.

            Leedham, who has now captured both weekly honors for the second-straight week and sixth time overall, has collected Freshman of the Week honors four-straight weeks and ten times over a possible 11 weeks during Franklin Pierce’s season. She also appeared in the “Faces in the Crowd” section of the January 15 issue of Sports Illustrated.

Leedham averaged 25 points, eight rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.5 assists in a 1-1 week for Franklin Pierce. She hit 51.5-percent (17-of-33) of her shots from the field, including 7-of-10 (70%) from three-point range, and converted 9-of-11 (81.8%) free-throw attempts for the week. Leedham collected her ninth double-double of the season with 32 points, shooting 12-of-24 from the field, including 4-5 from three-point range, to go with 12 rebounds, three steals and two assists in a tough 74-71 double-overtime setback to Pace University, ranked eighth in last week’s NCAA Division II Northeast Regional poll. She scored 17 of her game-high matching 18 points in just 17 minutes of action in the first half of Saturday’s 67-50 triumph at UMass Lowell, adding four rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Leedham has put herself in the mix for Northeast-10 Player of the Year consideration in her first collegiate season, scoring 20-plus points in all but eight games, reaching 30 points six times, and recording nine double-doubles. She has led the Ravens in scoring in 18 of their 23 games and rebounding 16 times.

Leedham leads the Northeast-10 in scoring, averaging 23.2 points (4^th in Division II), to go with a Conference-best 4.0 steals (6^th nationally), 7.8 rebounds (5^th), 3.4 assists (14^th) and 1.0 blocks (6^th) per game. She ranks third in the NE-10 in three-point field goal percentage (.416), eighth in free-throw percentage (.812) and ninth in field goal percentage (.497). In 18 NE-10 games, Leedham is averaging 23.7 points (1^st), 7.8 rebounds (6^th), 3.7 assists (10^th), 3.9 steals (1^st) and 1.2 blocks (5^th). She is also second in three-point percentage in Conference play, connecting at 43.9%.

            Leedham added to her record-setting season for Franklin Pierce last week, notching her fourth program record and reaching a scoring milestone in the process. She broke Kari Hunt’s single-season free-throw record of 147, set in 1997-98, on Wednesday against Pace and she has connected on 155-of-191 free-throw attempts entering this week’s action. Leedham also became the first Raven since Kelly Jewett in 1992-93 to reach 500 points in one season, having netted 534 points in her first collegiate campaign.

Leedham 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 Jewett, a former NCAA Division II free-throw champion, with an 11-for-11 effort 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 shattered the single-game steals mark with 11 thefts 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. Leedham enters this week’s action well within reach of O’Brien’s single-season steal record of 92 set in 1984-85, needing just two more steals to break the mark. Leedham’s 23.2 scoring average is also on pace to surpass Shelia Lindsay’s record of 22.8 set in 1987-88.

Franklin Pierce (16-7, 12-6 NE-10), ranked sixth in last week’s NCAA Division II Tournament Northeast Regional rankings, is back in action tomorrow night at Bryant University, ranked ninth in the region, at 5:30 p.m. The Ravens are back home on Saturday when it hosts Saint Anselm College at 1:30 p.m.