Third Northeast-10 title in women's basketball history, joining last season's regular season and tournament championships.

BOXSCORE

MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 13, 2010) -- The No. 1 nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team clinched at least a share of the 2010 Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship on Saturday with its 69-61 win over Saint Anselm in Manchester. The Ravens improved to 23-0 overall and 19-0 in the Northeast-10 with just three games remaining in the regular season. The Hawks dipped to 9-15 overall and 6-13 in league play.

Saturday's win marked the second-straight season Franklin Pierce won at least a share of the NE-10 regular season crown. This year's regular season title gives the Ravens three NE-10 championships in the sport of women's basketball all-time, joining last season's regular season and tournament titles.

Senior standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) pumped in a game-high 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field. She just missed tallying her fifth-straight 30-plus point scoring game. Leedham also had two steals on the afternoon to give her 413 for her career. Leedham also stands just 26 points shy of moving into third place in NCAA Division II women's basketball history for career scoring.

Sophomore forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) added nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in the win for the Ravens. Junior center Tori Ahrens (East Greenwich, R.I.) recorded eight points and a pair of steals, while freshman guard Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H.) came off the bench to toss in eight points on 2-of-3 shooting from behind the arc.

Epiphany Smith led Saint Anselm with 21 points, while Megan Howard added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Saint Anselm's enthusiastic play kept the game close for the first couple of minutes as it only trailed 9-6 following a layup from Morgan Frame.

However, Franklin Pierce responded and scored the game's next 12 points to open up a commanding 21-6 advantage with 10:14 left in the half. Giroud kick-started the rally with a three-point play and frontcourt-mate Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) aided it with a three-point play of her own moments later. Leedham also had four points during the surge.

The Ravens continued to add to their lead as Leedham scored four-consecutive points to extend her team's advantage to 30-12 with 6:31 to go in the half. Franklin Pierce eventually took a 40-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Leedham led all scorers with 17 points in the opening 20 minutes. Giroud had a solid first half with five points and four rebounds, while Saab came off the bench to chip in five points. Both teams shot well from the floor, including a 47-percent clip (14-of-30) from the Ravens and a 42-percent conversion rate for the Hawks (10-of-24). Franklin Pierce was also able to force Saint Anselm into 11 turnovers in the half.

The Hawks, though, came out strong in the early stages of the second half and eventually trimmed Franklin Pierce's lead down to five at 43-38 with 15:50 remaining following a triple from Frame.

Just as they did in the first half, the Ravens responded with a large run to open up a 15-point advantage. Franklin Pierce outscored the Hawks, 12-2, over a five-minute span to take a 55-40 lead. Senior guard Kirsten Doldoorian (Brimfield, Mass.) aided the run with a big offensive rebound which led to her feeding an assist to Ahrens for a layup. Doldoorian then capped the surge with a deep trey from the right wing with 10:14 to go in the game.

Saint Anselm did trim it to nine points later in the game, but could not get any closer as the Ravens went on another extended run to put the game out of reach.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Wednesday night when it plays host to Merrimack at 5:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. Wednesday's game is also Franklin Pierce's "Think Pink" Pink Zone game, which is done in cooperation with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Ravens will be wearing pink shirts and all fans are asked to wear pink clothing items as everyone will raise awareness for the courageous battle against breast cancer. Also at Wednesday's game, Franklin Pierce Athletics will be selling raffle tickets for the Kay Yow Pink Ribbon blanket, which will be given out during the night.

Fans who cannot attend the game can follow it online via audio, video and/or live stats through the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)