SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 26, 2008) – Sophomore All-American Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) hit a jumper as time expired to lift Franklin Pierce University, ranked 19^th in this week’s USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll and third in the Northeast Region, to a 66-64 victory over American International College, ranked sixth in the region, in the Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball regular season finale at Butova Gymnasium tonight.

 

Franklin Pierce (23-4, 18-4 NE-10) has earned a first round bye in the upcoming Northeast-10 Tournament and will host a quarterfinal round match up on Tuesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. The second-seeded Ravens will face the winner of Sunday’s first round contest between seventh-seeded Le Moyne College (14-12, 11-11 NE-10) and tenth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University (13-14, 9-13 NE-10). American International (16-11, 12-10 NE-10) will host 12^th-seeded College of Saint Rose (13-14, 9-13 NE-10) in an NE-10 first round contest on Sunday at 2 p.m.

 

Franklin Pierce’s 23 wins are one shy of the program record set in 1991-92 (24-7) and later matched in 1997-98 (24-6), and they head into the postseason winners of a season-high eight straight after completing a perfect 7-0 month of February.

 

Leedham led all scorers with 25 points (17 second half) to go with nine rebounds and two steals. She moved into 11^th place on Franklin Pierce’s all-time scoring list with 1,176 career points. Leedham surpassed Amina Robinson (1,151), Desiree Hutchins (1,161) and Barbara Gerry (1,171) to leap from 14^th to 11^th all-time tonight. She also moves within two points of logging just the fourth 600-point season in program history.

 

Junior Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) added 15 points for Franklin Pierce, shooting 6-for-10 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, to go with three assists. She also collected three steals to move into ninth place in the Ravens all-time list with 162 in her career. Junior Vanessa Power (Mildura, Australia) rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Ravens with 13 points as she hit 5-of-9 shots from the field, including 3-7 from three-point range, to go with two assists and a steal.

 

Senior All-American Alexis Castro (Chula Vista, Calif./Vermont) posted a double-double to lead American International as she totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds (six offensive). She made 6-of-8 free-throws on the night, but missed two attempts with 7.6-seconds to play with a chance to give the Yellow Jackets the lead. Grad student Alissa Rubino (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Comsewogue) added 13 points and six assists, while junior Jeanette Jonathan (Central Islip, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) finished with 12 points off the bench as she buried 4-of-6 three-point attempts.

 

Franklin Pierce shot 47.1-percent (24-for-51) from the field on the night, including 9-of-20 (45%) from three-point range, compared to 43.1% (22-51) shooting for American International, who connected on just 33.3% (6-18) of its three-pointers. The Ravens also posted a 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

 

The Ravens used 51.9-percent (24-51) shooting to lead by as much as 12 points in the first half, before settling for a four-point (34-30) edge at halftime. The Yellow Jackets came out shooting in the second and used a 16-6 run over a four-minute stretch to take its first lead since early in the contest (46-43) after a conventional three-point play by senior Mirlande Francois (Miami, Fla./Tallahassee CC) and a lay-up from junior Stacy Boisvert (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) five and a half minutes into the half. Jonathan drained two three’s and Rubino added a third during the run.

 

That proved to be the largest lead of the night for AIC, as the game went back and forth over the next four minutes. Franklin Pierce gained a five-point cushion (59-54) after a Jennifer Leedham three with 7:04 left. The Ravens lead was still five (61-56) after a Johannah Leedham lay-up with 4:42 to play, but Castro scored four-straight points to pull AIC within a point (61-60) with 3:32 to go.

 

Jennifer Leedham answered with a three-pointer to put Franklin Pierce back on top by four (64-60) with 2:48 remaining, but the Yellow Jackets answered with four-straight points as the Ravens would go scoreless until Johannah Leedham’s winning basket as time expired. Castro hit two free-throws with 2:30 to play to pull AIC within two and Boisvert added a lay-up with 1:41 left to bring the Yellow Jackets even.

 

The teams traded turnovers over the next 1:18 and Castro was fouled inside with 7.6-seconds left, giving her a chance to give AIC the lead. However, Castro missed both attempts and the Ravens quickly got the ball up to Johannah Leedham where she slipped past two defenders before hitting a jumper from the foul line extended on the right side to win the game.

 

“We played with a lot of grit tonight against the biggest team we’ve seen all season,” said Franklin Pierce Head Coach Mark Swasey. “We were fortunate to get the misses at the end and we did a good job of finding Johannah in transition for the winning basket. This should give us good momentum for the NE-10 playoffs."

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