Ravens hold Greyhounds scoreless for last 3:05 to force four-way tie atop NE-10 standings

WORCESTER, Mass. (January 22, 2008) – Franklin Pierce University, ranked 20th in this week’s USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, moved into a four-way tie for first place atop the Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball standings with a 67-59 victory over No. 22 Assumption College at Andrew Laska Gymnasium.

Franklin Pierce’s win, along with victories by Bentley College (vs. Pace University) and Stonehill College (vs. Southern Connecticut State University), forces a four-way logjam atop the Northeast-10 standings. The quartet also sit two games ahead of fifth place in the drive for a first round bye in next month’s NE-10 Tournament. Franklin Pierce holds the head-to-head series advantage over Assumption as tonight’s win completes the regular season sweep; they split the season series with Stonehill and dropped the lone meeting of the regular season with Bentley.

“(We had) a complete team effort tonight,” said Franklin Pierce Head Coach Mark Swasey. “We didn’t play particularly well overall, but we stayed together, kept our composure and got several key stops and big shots when we needed them.”

Franklin Pierce was led by sophomore All-American Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) with 16 points as she cracked the program’s career scoring list and moved into 19th all-time with 986 points – just 14 shy of the 1,000-point plateau in a mere 43 career games. Leedham, who moved past former Ravens Colleen Dunleavy (977 points) and Debbie Stiles (983), is just one point behind Heather Jacobs (987) for 18th all-time. Leedham also collected seven rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot tonight.

Junior Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) added 14 points, aided by 7-of-8 shooting at the free-throw line, to go with five rebounds and six assists. Classmate Toby Martin (Wayne, Maine/Maranacook) contributed ten points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, while freshman Tori Ahrens (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) chipped in eight points and a team-best nine rebounds (four offensive).

Freshman Molly Griffiths (Walpole, Mass./Ursuline) led Assumption with 14 points, while senior Charde Floyd (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) posted a double-double with 12 points, on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, and a game-high ten rebounds to go with three assists. Junior Bethany Plasski (Fall River, Mass./Durfee) chipped in ten points.

Franklin Pierce overcame a 22.5-percent shooting effort (9-for-40) in the first half to finish at 32.8% (21-64), after connecting on 12-of-24 (50%) attempts in the second half. The Ravens also made the most of its free-throw attempts, converting 18-of-25 (72%), including 13-16 (81.3%) in the second half, compared to 15-27 (55.6%) for Assumption, including 9-19 (47.4%) over the final 20 minutes. The Greyhounds shot 38.9% (21-54) for the night, including just 2-for-11 (18.2%) from three-point range, and were on the short end of a 17-10 scoring margin in points off turnovers.

In a game that featured eight ties and 11 lead changes, Franklin Pierce held Assumption to just three points over the final 5:06 and scoreless for the last 3:05 to eventually pull away, with the final eight-point cushion the largest lead by either team on the night. The Ravens led by five (61-56) after two Jennifer Leedham free-throws with four minutes to play, but the Greyhounds drew within two (61-59) after Griffiths made one of two at the line and hit a jumper with 3:05 to play. Assumption missed its last six shots of the game (including three three-pointers).

Franklin Pierce scored the last six points of the night, starting with an Ahrens free throw with 2:46 on the clock. Senior Josie Lidke (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) hit a key jumper with 45-seconds left to put the Ravens up five and Johannah Leedham pretty much iced it with two free-throws with 30-seconds to go.

Franklin Pierce (15-3, 10-3 NE-10) continues its three-game road trip on Saturday at The College of Saint Rose at 1:30 p.m. The Ravens return home on Saturday, February 2, to host University of Massachusetts Lowell at 1:30 p.m. Assumption (16-4, 10-3 NE-10) visits Saint Anselm College on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.