Leedham Named
NE-10 Player of the Week
Ellesmere Port, England, native collects
sixth weekly award of season after earning
All-Tournament team honors at NCAA II Women’s Elite Eight 

RINDGE, N.H. (March 31, 2008) – Franklin Pierce University sophomore All-American Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) was named the Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball Player of the Week on Monday.

           Leedham matches her own single-season program record with her sixth NE-10 Player of the Week award of the season (12^th career) after earning All-Tournament team honors at the NCAA Division II Women’s Elite Eight in Kearney, Neb., last week. She posted game-high totals of 31 points (19 after halftime) and a career-best 18 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season (18^th career) in Franklin Pierce’s 71-65 overtime setback to 9^th-ranked University of Alaska Anchorage. Leedham made 8-of-20 shots from the field (6-10 after halftime) and converted 14-of-15 free-throw attempts (including each of her first 13) to go with four assists and two steals.          

Leedham, the first Northeast-10 women’s basketball player named State Farm/WBCA Division II Player of the Year, has also earned State Farm/WBCA All-America and Daktronics All-America honors this season to go with All-Northeast Region, NE-10 Player of the Year and All-NE-10 first team accolades. Leedham is an ESPN The Magazine District I Academic All-America and NE-10 All-Academic first team selection, having earned a 3.29 cumulative grade point average at Franklin Pierce.

           Leedham led the NE-10 for the second-straight year in scoring, with 23.0 points (3^rd nationally), and steals with 3.4 (12^th) per game this season, to go with 7.0 rebounds (11^th NE-10) and 4.0 assists per game (5^th). She shot 48-percent (262-for-546) from the field (9^th), including 35.5% (54-152) from three-point range (10^th), and converted 83.7% (180-215) of her free-throw attempts (5^th). She led the Ravens in scoring in 32 of their 33 games this season and set single-season records for points (758), steals (111) and free-throws made (180) – the latter two breaking her own single-season marks.          

Leedham averaged 28.3 points, ten rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals in Franklin Pierce’s four NCAA Tournament contests, netting 30-plus points in their last three games. She made 48.6-percent (36-for-74) and converted 90% (36-for-40) of her free-throw attempts in the NCAA Tournament. Leedham earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the Northeast Regional, leading the Ravens to their first regional championship.

           Leedham has reached double-figures in scoring in all 58 games of her collegiate career, scoring 20-plus points in 40 of those games (24 of 33 this season) and netting 30-plus points 15 times (seven this winter). Leedham holds no less than 23 program records through just two collegiate seasons. She became the fastest player in program history to reach 1,000-career points, doing so in her 44^th career game at Saint Rose on January 26. Leedham poured in a program-record eight three-point field goals in a win over Southern New Hampshire on January 12. Leedham currently ranks third all-time at Franklin Pierce with 211 career steals, sixth in program history with 1,336 career points and tenth with 46 career blocked shots.

            Franklin Pierce (27-6, 18-4 NE-10), ranked 18^th in the final regular season USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, captured its first Northeast Regional title this season and set a program record for wins.