Leedham Named NE-10 Player and Freshman of the Week
Ellesmere Port, England, native sweeps awards for third-straight week, fourth time overall; named Freshman of the Week
for fifth-straight week 

RINDGE, N.H. (December 18, 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 three-straight weeks and four times over the opening six weeks of the women’s basketball season. She has captured the NE-10’s top freshman honors each of the first five weeks of the season and under her guidance the Ravens got off to their best start since 1984-85 with an 8-1 clip before seeing their eight-game winning streak halted on Saturday.

Leedham averaged 24.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals and a blocked shot in a 1-1 week for Franklin Pierce. She hit 56.3-percent (18-of-32) of her shots from the field, including 41.7% (5-12) from three-point range, and converted 8-of-9 (88.9%) attempts from the free-throw line for the week.

Leedham netted a game-high 33 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field, including 4-8 from three-point range, while converting 7-of-8 free-throw attempts to go with a team-high seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in Saturday’s 73-68 setback at Saint Anselm College. She added a game-high 16 points to go with four rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in just 23 minutes of action in Wednesday’s 78-61 victory over Southern New Hampshire University.

Leedham has been the story in the Northeast-10 through Franklin Pierce’s first ten games, scoring 20-plus points in all but one game, reaching 30 points three times, and recording five double-doubles. She leads the Northeast-10 in scoring, averaging 26.5 points, to go with a Conference-best 3.7 steals, 8.5 rebounds (4^th), 3.8 assists (10^th) and 1.5 blocks (3^rd). She is second in the NE-10 in three-point percentage (.452), is fifth in field goal percentage (.540) and seventh in free-throw percentage (.847). In eight NE-10 games, Leedham is averaging 27.3 points (1^st), 8.5 rebounds (4^th), 4.1 assists (8^th), 4.0 steals (1^st) and 1.5 blocks (3^rd).

Leedham’s 33 points on Saturday at Saint Anselm are part of a growing trend as well. She is averaging 34 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 3.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game on that day of the week, with her top four scoring outputs of the year coming on that day. Leedham is shooting 57.5% (42-73), including 55% (11-20) from three-point range, and converting 83.7% (41-49) of her attempts from the free-throw line on Saturdays.

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 December 9 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 (8-2, 7-1 NE-10), among teams receiving votes in last week’s USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, returns home on Wednesday when it hosts Molloy College for a non-conference contest at 7 p.m.