Leedham Earns
ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-District Honors
Ellesmere Port, England, native fourth District I selection in program history, first since 2002 

RINDGE, N.H. (February 7, 2008) – Franklin Pierce University sophomore Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) has earned ESPN The Magazine District I Academic All-America first team honors for women’s basketball, as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) members in New England and New York.

           Leedham, now eligible for Academic All-America selection to be announced on February 26, is just the fourth Academic All-District selection in program history and the first since Emily Liskow also earned first team honors in 2001-02. All four Academic All-District selections in program history were first team picks. Leedham is the lone Northeast-10 Conference student-athlete on the first team and one of just two on the three teams combined.          

Leedham, who earns Academic All-District honors for the first time, has earned a 3.29 cumulative grade point average at the University and was an NE-10 All-Academic first team pick last month. She has started all 22 games for Franklin Pierce this season and ranks among NE-10 leaders in most statistical categories with team-high averages of 22.0 points (2^nd NE-10, 6^th nationally), 6.9 rebounds (12^th), 4.2 assists (6^th) and a Conference-best 3.4 steals per game (13^th nationally). She is shooting a team-best 48.1-percent from the field (9^th NE-10), including 34.8% (32-92) from three-point range (14^th), and has converted 81.5% (106-130) of her free-throw attempts (6^th) this season. She has been the Ravens top scorer in 21 of 22 games so far this season and the team’s top rebounder nine times.  

           The honor is the latest in a long list of accolades for Leedham, who became the first All-American in program history when she was named to the Daktronics third team as a freshman. Also the first Kodak/WBCA Division II honorable mention All-America in program history, Leedham was named the NE-10 Freshman of the Year and also collected All-NE-10 first team and All-Rookie team status in 2006-07. She has earned NE-10 Player of the Week honors a program-record ten times over her career, including four this season, and was the NE-10 Freshman of the Week a record 11 times in 2006-07.          

Leedham, who has broken no fewer than 21 program records during her brief collegiate career, currently ranks 16^th in program history with 1,062 career points after becoming the fastest player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau (18^th overall), doing so in her 44^th career game at The College of Saint Rose on January 26. She also ranks seventh in program history with 175 career steals. In Franklin Pierce’s 86-60 win over Southern New Hampshire University on January 12, Leedham buried a program-record eight three-pointers to complete her record-setting performances so far this season.

           Leedham has scored in double-figures in all 47 games of her collegiate career, netting over 20 points 32 times and 30-plus on 11 occasions. A former two-time England U-18 Player of the Year, Leedham guided Great Britain to a bronze medal at the FIBA U-20 European Championships last summer.

           Franklin Pierce (18-4, 13-4 NE-10), ranked 23^rd in this week’s USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll and third in this week’s NCAA Division II Northeast Regional rankings, is back in action on Saturday when it visits Saint Anselm College at 1:30 p.m. The Ravens next home game is Saturday, February 16, when they host Merrimack College at 1:30 p.m.