Johannah Leedham moves into top-20 in NCAA Division II women's basketball history for career scoring

BOXSCORE

LOWELL, Mass. (December 8, 2009) – The second-ranked Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team overcame deficits in both the first and second halves to pull off a 67-62 come-from-behind victory over UMass-Lowell on Tuesday night at the Costello Athletic Center in Lowell, Mass. The Ravens opened the season with their sixth-straight win to improve to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Northeast-10. UMass-Lowell dipped to 5-3 and 3-3 in NE-10 play.

Senior standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) tossed in a game-high 29 points and added 12 rebounds to notch her second double-double of the season. With the point total, Leedham moved into the top-20 all-time in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history for career scoring. She currently stands at 2,296 points and is four points shy from becoming just the 18th player in Division II history to score at least 2,300 points in her career. Leedham also had five steals, one assist and one block to go along with her double-double.

Sophomore forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) was Franklin Pierce’s other double-figure scorer as she dropped in 11 points and also had 13 rebounds to log a double-double of her own. Junior guard Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I.) added nine points for the Ravens in the win.

Freshman guard Bianca Simmons led UMass-Lowell with 15 points as the River Hawks led by as many as 12 points in the contest. They also led by as many as five in the second half.

The Ravens used an 11-2 run over the middle stages of the second half to turn a 45-43 deficit into a 54-47 advantage with 7:57 to play. Freshman forward Tiffany Johnson (St. Albans, Vt.) scored the initial five points of the run on a pair of free throws and a three-pointer. She scored seven points during the rally, which was capped with a nice steal and fast-break layup by Leedham.

Leedham knocked down a triple with 5:53 remaining in the contest to extend Franklin Pierce’s lead to 58-49. Lowell regrouped during the ensuing timeout and came out of the stoppage by scoring the game’s next five points to cut the deficit to 58-54 with 3:18 left. Amanda McGrew started the small run with a three-pointer from the top of the key.

Franklin Pierce put an end to the surge with a 5-0 run of its own, including a pair of free throws from Gaudet and another trey from Leedham, to go up 63-54 with 1:22 remaining.

The River Hawks never threatened the rest of the way as Franklin Pierce converted several free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

The River Hawks jumped out to a 9-1 lead three minutes into the contest and eventually led 19-7 with 11:57 remaining in the half on a three-pointer by McGrew.

Franklin Pierce regrouped and slowly chipped away at the deficit the remaining stages of the first half. The Ravens out-scored UMass-Lowell, 22-10 over the final 11:57 of the period to pull even at 29-29 at halftime.

Leedham, who scored seven points during the surge, kick-started it with a layup.Giroud aided the rally with six points and Rachel Kimball (Rotterdam, N.Y.) added a steal which she turned into a coast-to-coast layup.

Leedham tossed in 13 points in the half to move into Division II’s top-20 in career scoring. The Ravens forced Lowell into 10 turnovers and scored 11 points off of those.

The Ravens return to action on Friday night when they play host No. 21 Stonehill at 5:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The game is Pierce Pride/Johannah Leedham Night. The first 150 students through the doors will receive not one, but two FREE giveaways from the Franklin Pierce Athletics Department. Leedham will be honored prior to the game for breaking the Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball career scoring record last month.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)