Ellesmere Port, England, native earns award for fifth-straight week

RINDGE, N.H. (February 12, 2007) - Franklin Pierce women's basketball standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference's Freshman of the Week by the Conference office this afternoon.

Leedham has earned Freshman of the Week honors for the fifth-straight week and 11^th time over a possible 12 weeks in all. She has also earned NE-10 Player of the Week honors on six occasions, including a string of three-straight weeks leading into the holiday break. Leedham also appeared in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the January 15 issue of Sports Illustrated.

Leedham averaged 22 points, nine rebounds, 3.5 steals and 1.5 assists in Franklin Pierce's two games last week. She converted 10-of-12 (83.3%) free-throw attempts and shot 42.1-percent (16-38) from the field for the week. Leedham notched her seventh 30-point outing of the year with 30 points, eight rebounds, five steals, two assists and a blocked shot in Saturday's 54-53 setback to Saint Anselm College. She opened the week with her tenth double-double of the season with 14 points (all second half), ten rebounds and two steals in a 78-65 defeat at Bryant University, ranked ninth in the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional rankings, on Tuesday.

Leedham has put herself in the mix for Northeast-10 Player of the Year consideration in her first collegiate season, scoring 20-plus points in all but nine games, reaching 30 points seven times, and recording ten double-doubles. She has led the Ravens in scoring in 19 of their 25 games and rebounding 18 times.

Leedham leads the Northeast-10 in scoring, averaging 23.1 points (4^th in Division II), to go with a Conference-best 4.0 steals (4^th nationally), 7.9 rebounds (5^th), 3.3 assists (14^th) and 1.0 blocks (6^th) per game. She ranks fourth in the NE-10 in three-point field goal percentage (.390), seventh in free-throw percentage (.813) and 11^th in field goal percentage (.490). In 20 NE-10 games, Leedham is averaging 23.6 points (1^st), 7.9 rebounds (5^th), 3.5 assists (11^th), 3.9 steals (1^st) and 1.1 blocks (5^th). She is also third in three-point percentage in Conference play, connecting at 40.9%.

Leedham has already made an impact on Franklin Pierce's record book, setting no fewer than 17 records (including freshman marks) in her first collegiate season. Last week she added another record to her resume, surpassing Tricia O'Brien's single-season steals mark of 94 set in 1984-85 with a pair at Bryant. Leedham's 23.1 points per game is also on pace to break Shelia Lindsay's single-season record of 22.8 set in 1987-88. Below is a complete list of Leedham's records set to date:

LEEDHAM'S LIST

13-for-13 FT's vs. Stonehill (Dec. 2) - single-game free-throw percentage record*

19 FT's made vs. Molloy (Dec. 20) - single-game record for FT's made*

11 steals vs. Northwood (Dec. 30) - single-game record*

165 FT's made - single-season record*

100 steals - single-season record*

578 points - single-season freshman record

11 NE-10 Freshman of the Week awards

6 NE-10 Player of the Week awards*

Six-straight NE-10 Freshman of the Week awards

Three-straight NE-10 Player of the Week awards*

 * - also program records for freshmen

Franklin Pierce (16-9, 12-8 NE-10), ranked eighth in last week's NCAA Division II Tournament Northeast Regional rankings, is off until Saturday when it visits Merrimack College for its lone contest of the week at 1 p.m. The Ravens are back home for their regular season finale against Saint Michael's College on Tuesday, February 20, at 5:30 p.m. Franklin Pierce has clinched home-court advantage for the first round of the upcoming NE-10 Tournament set to tip off on Sunday, February 25.