Leedham Named NE-10 Player
and Freshman of the Week
Ellesmere Port, England, native collects top freshman honors for fourth-straight week, top player for second-straight week, third time overall 

RINDGE, N.H. (December 11, 2006) – Franklin Pierce women’s basketball standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference Player and Freshman of the Week by the Conference office this afternoon.

            Leedham is the only player in program history to sweep the weekly awards, and has now done so two-straight weeks and three times over the opening five weeks of the women’s basketball season. She has captured the NE-10’s top freshman honors each of the first four weeks of the season and under her guidance the Ravens are off to their best start since 1998-99 when they also shook off a season-opening loss to win seven-straight.

            Leedham averaged 31 points, seven rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block in another 2-0 week for Franklin Pierce. She hit 50-percent (16-of-32) of her shots from the field, including 4-of-7 (57.1%) from three-point range, and converted 26-of-32 (81.3%) attempts from the free-throw line for the week.

Leedham led Franklin Pierce to a key 78-66 victory at 25^th-ranked College of Saint Rose on Saturday, scoring 26 of her game-high 37 points in the second half to go with a game-high ten rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. She tied a school-record by making 17 free-throws (on 21 attempts) to go with five assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Leedham led the Ravens past Le Moyne (66-53) on Tuesday with a game-best 25 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists.

Leedham has taken the Northeast-10 by storm through Franklin Pierce’s first eight games, scoring 20-plus points in all eight contests, reaching 30 points twice, and recording five double-doubles. She leads the Northeast-10 in scoring, averaging 27.0 points, to go with a Conference-best 4.3 steals, 9.3 rebounds (3^rd), 3.9 assists (9^th) and 1.6 blocks (3^rd). She also leads the NE-10 in three-point percentage (.467), is fifth in field goal percentage (535) and sixth in free-throw percentage (.842). In six NE-10 games, Leedham is averaging 28.2 points (1^st), 9.5 rebounds (3^rd), 4.3 assists (5^th), 4.8 steals (1^st) and 1.7 blocks (2^nd).

Leedham already has two school records to her credit through her first month of collegiate basketball. She set a program record by converting all 13 of her free-throw attempts in Franklin Pierce’s win over 16^th-ranked Stonehill College on December 2, surpassing the previous mark set by former NCAA Division II free-throw champion Kelly Jewett, who converted all 11 of her attempts against Sacred Heart University on January 15, 1992. Leedham’s 17 made free-throws on Saturday at Saint Rose tied the record set by Gail Harris against Eastern Nazarene College on January 29, 1983. Leedham’s season-high 39 points against Stonehill are the second-highest single-game total in program history and just eight shy of Shelia Lindsay’s school-record of 47 set against Castleton State College on February 22, 1986.

Franklin Pierce (7-1, 6-0 NE-10), among teams receiving votes in last week’s USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, returns home on Wednesday when it hosts instate rivals Southern New Hampshire University at 5:30 p.m.