Franklin Pierce All-American looks to help country earn spot in 2012 Olympic Games

RINDGE, N.H. (June 11, 2008) – Franklin Pierce University All-American Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy) has been named to the Great Britain Women’s Senior National Team Training Squad as it begins the process of securing qualification to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Leedham, the State Farm Division II Player of the Year as selected by the Women’s Basktetball Coaches Association, is one of 16 members of the women’s squad, which will begin training in Cardiff, Wales, in July, chosen from a pool of 27 candidates picked in late April. Great Britain, which earned promotion to EuroBasket Division A over the winter, must remain in Europe’s highest division to earn an automatic spot in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

“I’m happy to be included in the Senior National Team,” said Leedham. “I think it is important for me to commit to the program. I now have to work harder and dedicate myself to playing at a much higher level.”

Great Britain makes its Division A debut when it opens a series of two-legged qualifying contests for the 2009 European Championships in Latvia on August 13 at Ukraine. Great Britain hosts Lithuania in Cardiff on August 20. Also in Great Britain’s group are Germany and Israel. The top two teams in the group qualify for the final in Latvia, but also important for Great Britain is staying away from the bottom of the group to avoid relegation back into EuroBasket Division B. Great Britain’s eight qualifiers wrap up with a game at Israel on September 13.

“We developed a great team spirit last year and one of the challenges will be to build on that,” said Great Britain coach Mark Clark. “There is a core group who will hopefully pick up where we left off last year, while the players joining for the first time have to get there quickly. It’s great to have (Johannah) Leedham, who will give us a new dimension.”

Leedham led Great Britain’s U-20 squad to a bronze medal at the 2007 FIBA European Division B Championships in Lithuania last summer. Great Britain posted a 5-2 overall record at the tournament as Leedham led GBR in most statistical categories, averaging 22.1 points (3rd overall among Championship leaders), 8.6 rebounds (6th), 3.0 assists (6th) and 2.9 steals (4th) per contest. She is shot 48.7-percent (56-of-115) from the field (5th), including 14-for-30 (46.7%) from three-point range (2nd). Leedham scored 20-plus points in all but two contests, posting a pair of double-doubles.

“I am really looking forward to working with Johannah,” said Clark. “(She) demonstrated last summer that she has learned how to play internationally. At 20 years of age, she has a great future ahead of her and I believe that could start this summer.”

Leedham is a highly decorated player in her native England. She was a two-time U-18 Player of the Year, with no less than five years of experience at the youth international levels. Impressive considering she starting playing basketball at age 14.

Leedham, the first Northeast-10 women’s basketball player named State Farm/WBCA Division II Player of the Year, led Franklin Pierce to its best season in program history last winter, reaching the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Kearney, Neb., after claiming its first Northeast Region Championship. The State Farm/WBCA All-America and Daktronics All-America selection also collected All-Northeast Region, NE-10 and ECAC Player of the Year and All-NE-10 first team accolades last winter. Leedham is an ESPN The Magazine District I Academic All-America and NE-10 All-Academic first team selection, having earned a 3.35 cumulative grade point average at Franklin Pierce.

Leedham led the NE-10 for the second-straight year in scoring, with 23.0 points (3rd nationally), and steals with 3.4 (12th) per game this season, to go with 7.0 rebounds (11th NE-10) and 4.0 assists per game (5th). She shot 48-percent (262-for-546) from the field (9th), including 35.5% (54-152) from three-point range (10th), and converted 83.7% (180-215) of her free-throw attempts (5th). She led the Ravens in scoring in 32 of their 33 games 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, 10.0 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) of her shots from the field and converted 90% (36-for-40) of her free-throw attempts in the 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 last season) and netting 30-plus points 15 times (seven last 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 44th 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.

“In her two years with our U-20 program and throughout her college career, she has demonstrated that she is a genuine scoring threat,” said Clark. “I believe she can bring that scoring threat to senior basketball and will definitely increase our options offensively.”

Franklin Pierce (27-6, 18-4 NE-10), ranked sixth in the final USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, set a program record for wins and its second-place finish in the Northeast-10 was its highest since joining the Conference in 2000.