Johannah Leedham Breaks NE-10 Steals Record as No. 1 Women's Hoops Rolls to Win Over Saint Rose
Ravens earn second-straight win as nation’s top-ranked team
RINDGE, N.H. (January 9, 2010) – The
top-ranked Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team
continued on its winning roll Saturday as the Ravens downed Saint
Rose, 75-60, in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. Franklin Pierce improved
to 13-0 on the season and 9-0 in the Northeast-10, while Saint Rose
dipped to 5-9 and 4-5 in league play.
Senior standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port,
England) continued her assault on the NE-10 women’s
basketball record book as she swiped four steals to become the
all-time leader in that category. She currently stands at 373
thefts for her career.
Leedham ended the game with 23 points, eight rebounds, six assists,
the four steals and a pair of blocks. With her point total, she
moved into 11th place all-time in NCAA Division II women’s
basketball history for career scoring with 2,468 points.
Leedham stands on the verge of three more career scoring
milestones, which she could achieve over the next two games. First,
Leedham needs just 22 more points to become the all-time leading
scorer in Northeast-10 history for both men’s and
women’s basketball. Assumption’s Drew Adderly totaled
2,489 points for his spectacular career from 1988-92 and is tops in
that category. With 23 points, Leedham would move into the top-10
in Division II history for career scoring. With 32 more points,
Leedham would become just the eighth player in Division II history
to top 2,500 points for her career.
Leedham will have the opportunity to reach one or all of those
milestones on Tuesday night when the Ravens travel to face New
Haven at 5:30 p.m. Franklin Pierce fans may have the opportunity to
see one of those accomplishments earned next Saturday when the
Ravens play host to Southern Connecticut State at 1:30 p.m. in The
Fieldhouse in Rindge.
Two other Ravens scored in double-figures, including junior guard
Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I.) and junior center
Tori Ahrens (East Greenwich, R.I.), who scored 15
and 13 points, respectively. Gaudet handed out six assists and
collected three steals, while Ahrens ripped down nine boards.
Sophomore forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) added
seven rebounds, as Franklin Pierce outrebounded the Golden Knights
by a count of 45-37.
The Ravens shot a strong 51 percent (29-of-57) from the field,
which aided in their dominating advantage of 52-24 in points in the
paint. Saint Rose, though, struggled shooting the ball as it
managed just 32 percent (20-of-63) from the floor.
Saint Rose did play hard defensively and forced Franklin Pierce
into 24 turnovers, scoring 21 points off of those. The game
featured five ties and 10 lead changes.
The Golden Knights hung tough early on and held a 12-9 lead at the
13:11 mark of the first half. The teams would exchange 8-0 runs
over the next four minutes. Ahrens laid in a pair of buckets to
give the Ravens a 17-12 lead, but Amy Voelkel tallied four points
to spark Saint Rose to a 20-17 edge.
Franklin Pierce found itself trailing 24-23 before it countered
with an 8-0 rally to go up 31-24 with 3:41 left in the half. Gaudet
aided the rally with four points and Giroud chipped in with a
three-point play.
The Ravens kept up the offensive intensity over the final 2:56 of
the half and outscored the Golden Knights, 8-0, to take a 41-29
lead into the locker room at halftime.
Leedham had 15 points in the first 20 minutes, while Gaudet chipped
in with 10. Ashley Rath had 11 of her team-high 19 points in the
first half.
The Ravens scored 10-straight points in the opening stages of the
second half to build a commanding 53-37 lead with 13:44 remaining.
Gaudet was one of four Ravens to score during the surge as she
sparked it with a three-pointer.
Leedham buried a three minutes later to push Franklin
Pierce’s lead out to 18 at 57-39 with 10:18 to go. Saint Rose
didn’t fold and whittled its deficit down to nine at 59-50
with 6:57 remaining on a layup from Ola Shajuyigbe.
Franklin Pierce had one more surge left in it as Leedham scored the
game’s next five points to open up a 64-50 lead. Saint Rose
could not get back within single-digits the rest of the way as the
Ravens moved on for the win.
The Ravens have now won 26 of their last 27 games overall and
18-straight regular season games dating back to the end of last
season.
For more information on the top-ranked Franklin Pierce
women’s basketball program, please visit the team’s
page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)