#19 Franklin Pierce Edges American International, 66-64
Jo. Leedham’s buzzer
beater lifts Ravens to eighth-straight win, caps 25-point night
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 26, 2008) – Sophomore
All-American Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port,
England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) hit a jumper as time
expired to lift Franklin Pierce University, ranked 19th in this
week’s USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll and third in the
Northeast Region, to a 66-64 victory over American International
College, ranked sixth in the region, in the Northeast-10 Conference
women’s basketball regular season finale at Butova Gymnasium
tonight.
Franklin Pierce (23-4, 18-4 NE-10) has earned a first round bye in
the upcoming Northeast-10 Tournament and will host a quarterfinal
round match up on Tuesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. The second-seeded
Ravens will face the winner of Sunday’s first round contest
between seventh-seeded Le Moyne College (14-12, 11-11 NE-10) and
tenth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University (13-14, 9-13 NE-10).
American International (16-11, 12-10 NE-10) will host 12th-seeded
College of Saint Rose (13-14, 9-13 NE-10) in an NE-10 first round
contest on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Franklin Pierce’s 23 wins are one shy of the program record
set in 1991-92 (24-7) and later matched in 1997-98 (24-6), and they
head into the postseason winners of a season-high eight straight
after completing a perfect 7-0 month of February.
Leedham led all scorers with 25 points (17 second half) to go with
nine rebounds and two steals. She moved into 11th place on Franklin
Pierce’s all-time scoring list with 1,176 career points.
Leedham surpassed Amina Robinson (1,151), Desiree Hutchins (1,161)
and Barbara Gerry (1,171) to leap from 14th to 11th all-time
tonight. She also moves within two points of logging just the
fourth 600-point season in program history.
Junior Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire
Academy (Conn.)) added 15 points for Franklin Pierce,
shooting 6-for-10 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point
range, to go with three assists. She also collected three steals to
move into ninth place in the Ravens all-time list with 162 in her
career. Junior Vanessa Power (Mildura, Australia)
rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Ravens with 13 points
as she hit 5-of-9 shots from the field, including 3-7 from
three-point range, to go with two assists and a steal.
Senior All-American Alexis Castro (Chula Vista, Calif./Vermont)
posted a double-double to lead American International as she
totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds (six offensive). She made 6-of-8
free-throws on the night, but missed two attempts with 7.6-seconds
to play with a chance to give the Yellow Jackets the lead. Grad
student Alissa Rubino (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Comsewogue) added 13
points and six assists, while junior Jeanette Jonathan (Central
Islip, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) finished with 12 points off the
bench as she buried 4-of-6 three-point attempts.
Franklin Pierce shot 47.1-percent (24-for-51) from the field on the
night, including 9-of-20 (45%) from three-point range, compared to
43.1% (22-51) shooting for American International, who connected on
just 33.3% (6-18) of its three-pointers. The Ravens also posted a
23-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Ravens used 51.9-percent (24-51) shooting to lead by as much as
12 points in the first half, before settling for a four-point
(34-30) edge at halftime. The Yellow Jackets came out shooting in
the second and used a 16-6 run over a four-minute stretch to take
its first lead since early in the contest (46-43) after a
conventional three-point play by senior Mirlande Francois (Miami,
Fla./Tallahassee CC) and a lay-up from junior Stacy Boisvert
(Agawam, Mass./Agawam) five and a half minutes into the half.
Jonathan drained two three’s and Rubino added a third during
the run.
That proved to be the largest lead of the night for AIC, as the
game went back and forth over the next four minutes. Franklin
Pierce gained a five-point cushion (59-54) after a Jennifer Leedham
three with 7:04 left. The Ravens lead was still five (61-56) after
a Johannah Leedham lay-up with 4:42 to play, but Castro scored
four-straight points to pull AIC within a point (61-60) with 3:32
to go.
Jennifer Leedham answered with a three-pointer to put Franklin
Pierce back on top by four (64-60) with 2:48 remaining, but the
Yellow Jackets answered with four-straight points as the Ravens
would go scoreless until Johannah Leedham’s winning basket as
time expired. Castro hit two free-throws with 2:30 to play to pull
AIC within two and Boisvert added a lay-up with 1:41 left to bring
the Yellow Jackets even.
The teams traded turnovers over the next 1:18 and Castro was fouled
inside with 7.6-seconds left, giving her a chance to give AIC the
lead. However, Castro missed both attempts and the Ravens quickly
got the ball up to Johannah Leedham where she slipped past two
defenders before hitting a jumper from the foul line extended on
the right side to win the game.
“We played with a lot of grit tonight against the biggest
team we’ve seen all season,” said Franklin Pierce Head
Coach Mark Swasey. “We were fortunate to get the misses at
the end and we did a good job of finding Johannah in transition for
the winning basket. This should give us good momentum for the NE-10
playoffs."