NCAA II CHAMPIONSHIP: #14 Franklin Pierce Drops Shootout with #4 MSU-Mankato, 103-94
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Mavericks and Ravens combine for championship record 197
points
Jo. Leedham finishes with NCAA II Tournament record 149 points in
championship
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (March 27, 2009) - No. 14-ranked and East Region champions Franklin Pierce University, regular season and tournament champions of the Northeast-10 Conference, saw its bid for a National Championship come up just short with a 103-94 decision to 4th-ranked Minnesota State University-Mankato in the 2009 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championships, hosted by the San Antonio Sports Commission and Saint Mary's University, at Bill Greehey Arena tonight.
The 197 combined points sets a new NCAA Division II record for points in a championship game. Minnesota State-Mankato (32-2, 19-1 NSIC) captures its first women's basketball championship, finishing just a point shy of the championship game record 104 points scored by North Dakota State University in winning the 1996 title. Franklin Pierce (29-6, 18-4 NE-10) sees its best season in program history to a close as winners of the Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament championships while also claiming a second-straight East Regional title before advancing to the national championship game for the first time. The Ravens are just the third team (first women's) from the State of New Hampshire to compete in an NCAA basketball championship game, regardless of division or gender, joining Dartmouth College who played in the men's final in 1942 and '44.
Senior Heather Johnson (Janesville, Minn./Janesville-Waldorf-Pembertan) earned tournament Most Outstanding Player honors as she led Minnesota State with 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field, including 5-for-9 from three-point range, converting both free-throw attempts to go with three steals. Senior Alex Andrews (West Concord, Minn./Triton) also earned All-Tournament team honors after notching a double-double with 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field while converting all three free-throw attempts to go with 11 rebounds (eight offensive) and five steals. Classmate Joanne Noreen (Avon, Mass./Albany) joined her teammates on the All-Tournament team, adding 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Junior Tiffany Moe (Brookings, S.D./Brookings) rounded out the Mavericks double-figure scorers with 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.
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Franklin Pierce was led by its Leedham sisters who combined for 57 points. Senior Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) saved her best performance for last in her final collegiate game earning All-Tournament team honors as she led all scorers with a season-high 31 points on 12-for-20 shooting from the field, including 5-for-7 from three-point range, to go with nine assists, four steals and two blocked shots while going the full 40 minutes in the up-tempo track meet. Junior All-American and Great Britain international Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) collected All-Tournament team honors at the Elite Eight for the second-straight year as she finished with 26 points and ten rebounds (four offensive) for her fifth double-double of the season (23rd career) to go with three assists, four steals and a block. She made 11-of-21 shots from the field and converted all four free-throw attempts on the night.
Johannah Leedham finished the tournament with 149 points, breaking the Division II Tournament record of 141 set by Southeastern Oklahoma's Brandi Robinson in 2002. Leedham also finished the season with a program record 799 points, good for the 16th-best total in Division II history and matching the Northeast-10 record set by Stonehill College's Mary Naughton in 1988. The 2008 State Farm/WBCA Division II Player of the Year will enter her senior season with 2,135 career points, just 54 points shy of the NE-10 record of 2,189 set by American International College's Juana Garcia from 1992-96.
Sophomore Tori Ahrens (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) rounded out the Ravens double-figure scorers with ten points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field, four rebounds and two assists. Freshman Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) added nine points and three rebounds, while sophomore Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I./LaSalle Academy) chipped in eight points.
Both teams shot at a blistering pace with Franklin Pierce actually hitting the higher percentage, finishing at 56.9-percent (37-for-65) from the field after draining 63.9% (23-36) in the first half including 6-for-10 (60%) from three-point range. The Ravens shot "only" 48.3-percent (14-29) in the second half, just 1-for-6 (16.7%) from beyond the arc.
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Minnesota State finished shooting 55.4% (41-74) from the field, including 59% (23-39) in the first half as it drained 7-of-10 (70%) three's. The Mavericks also posted a 35-28 rebounding advantage, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds which resulted in a 21-15 edge in second chance points. MSU also took advantage of 23 Franklin Pierce turnovers (13 second half) by notching a 35-23 advantage in points off turnovers - a stat line the Ravens usually lead.
Minnesota State emerged from a first half in which the teams combined for 114 points with just a two-point (58-56) lead. The Mavericks pushed the lead to six (68-62) after an Andrews layup just over four minutes into the second half. Franklin Pierce took its first lead of the contest (73-72) on a pair of free-throws by Jennifer Leedham with 13:02 to play as part of a 13-2 run that saw the Ravens extend the lead to a game-high eight (82-74) after a Leedham layup midway through the half.
MSU recovered and used a 12-2 run to regain the lead (86-84) after a Noreen layup with 6:19 left. The teams traded baskets over the next minute before the Mavericks took the lead for good (90-88) with a Moe jumper with 4:54 to play. That sparked a 12-2 run that pushed the lead to a game-high ten (100-90) following two Moe free-throws with 1:07 remaining and sealed the program's first championship. Noreen chipped in four points during the run as well, while Franklin Pierce went nearly five minutes without a field goal.
The first half was played at such a break-neck pace, the game was on pace for a 100-80 halftime score with Minnesota State holding a 24-19 lead at the first media time out at the 14:49 mark. MSU's lead was nine (49-40) after a jumper by junior Mari Korton (Coon Rapids, Minn./Andover) with 4:34 left in the half. Jennifer Leedham scored eight-straight points, including a pair of three's, to pull Franklin Pierce back within a point (49-48) with 3:38 on the clock. A Moe jumper had the Mavericks back up eight (58-50) with 1:32 to go before the break, but the Ravens closed the half with the final six points, four from Johannah Leedham, to draw within two at the break.