Ellesmere Port, England, native first NE-10 women's basketball player in Conference history to earn national player of the year honors, second all-time from the Northeast Region

KEARNEY, Neb. (March 25, 2008) - Franklin Pierce University sophomore Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) has been named the State Farm Division II Women's Player of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches of America (WBCA). The announcement was made tonight at the NCAA II Women's Elite Eight Banquet of Champions.

"Johannah's standout play this season has put her a cut above the rest for the State Farm/WBCA NCAA Division II Player of the Year Award," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "On behalf of the WBCA, I would like to congratulate Johannah for a job well done, and wish her a very bright future."          

Leedham is the first women's basketball player from the Northeast-10 Conference to win the award and just the second all-time from the Northeast Region, joining Tammy Greene from Philadelphia University in 1994. Leedham joins former University of Massachusetts Lowell standout Elad Inbar as basketball players of the year in either men's or women's basketball from the NE-10. Leedham was also selected to the State Farm/WBCA Division II All-America first team, marking the first such selection in program history as well.

"I think it's really special and unexpected," said Leedham. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates. They make me the better player and I think a lot of the credit should go to them."

The State Farm/WBCA Player of the Year Award is selected by the nine-member WBCA Player of the Year Committee, which consists of one WBCA-member coach from each of the eight WBCA Division II Regions and the committee chair. Leedham will be formally presented her award at the WBCA Awards Luncheon presented by State Farm and Jostens on Tuesday, April 8 at noon (ET) as part of the 2008 WBCA National Conference held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four in Tampa, Fla.

"Congratulations to State Farm/WBCA NCAA Division II Player of the Year Johannah Leedham," said Mark D. Gibson, assistant vice president of advertising at State Farm. "Her outstanding accomplishments as a student-athlete, on and off the court, make her truly deserving of this wonderful honor. We look forward to seeing Johannah fulfill the rest of her basketball dreams."

"It's a tremendous honor for (Johannah) and Franklin Pierce," said Franklin Pierce Head Coach Mark Swasey. "While it is a great individual accomplishment, it also reflects on our whole program and what the team has accomplished so far."

Leedham, the Northeast-10 Player of the Year, leads the NE-10 with 22.7 points (3^rd nationally) and 3.4 steals (12^th) per game this season, to go with 6.7 rebounds (12^th NE-10) and 4.0 assists per game (5^th). She is shooting 48.3-percent (254-for-526) from the field (9^th), including 35.8% (53-148) from three-point range (8^th), and converting 83% (166-200) of her free-throw attempts (6^th). She has led the Ravens in scoring in 31 of their 32 games so far this season and also collected a team-best seven double-doubles (17 career).

Leedham has reached double-figures in scoring in all 57 games of her collegiate career, scoring 20-plus points in 39 of those games (23 of 32 this season) and netting 30-plus points 14 times (six this winter). She earned NE-10 Player of the Week honors five times this winter, running her program-record career total to 11. Leedham earned Most Outstanding Player honors in leading the Ravens to its first Northeast Regional title last week, averaging 27.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and four steals over their first three NCAA Tournament games.

Leedham holds no less than 23 program records through just two collegiate seasons. She has set a new single-season scoring record with her 727 points to date, and 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 209 career steals, sixth in program history with 1,305 career points and tenth with 46 career blocked shots.

The honor is the latest in a long list of accolades for Leedham at Franklin Pierce. She has earned ESPN The Magazine District I Academic All-America and NE-10 All-Academic first team honors, having achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.29 at the conclusion of the fall semester. She is also just the fourth sophomore in NE-10 history to earn Player of the Year honors with her selection this season and was a Daktronics All-Northeast Region first team pick for the second-straight year. In 2006-07, Leedham was named the NE-10 Freshman of the Year and earned All-Rookie team status.

Leedham is the second National Player of the Year honoree for Franklin Pierce this academic year, joining men's soccer standout James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy), who was named the NSCAA/adidas Player of the Year in men's soccer in January.

Leedham has led Franklin Pierce (27-5, 18-4 NE-10), ranked 18^th in the final regular season USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, to its first NCAA Division II Northeast Regional title. The Ravens will face No. 9 University of Alaska Anchorage (29-4, 15-3 GNAC) at the Women's Elite Eight tomorrow at 1 p.m. The game is available to watch for free via www.ncaa.com.