Johannah Leedham tosses in career high-tying 39 points to break all-time scoring record in NCAA Division II women’s basketball

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (March 5, 2010) – Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) tossed in 39 points to become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history and the second-ranked Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team advanced to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Championship Game with a 78-60 win over Bentley on Friday night in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The semifinal win pushed the Ravens to 27-1, while Bentley fell to 19-10.

The night belonged to Leedham, whose 39 points tied a career-high. She now has 2,896 points for her career, which is the 12th most in all of NCAA women’s basketball history. Leedham’s record-breaking shot came at the 10:30 mark of the second half as she laid in a basket, which caused a thunderous roar for the large crowd in attendance.

Following the next deadball timeout, an announcement was made about Leedham’s career accomplishment, which brought another round of loud applause from the Raven faithful.

The Division II scoring record added to her list of scoring records broken this season, including: the Northeast-10 women’s career record; the Northeast-10 men’s and women’s career record; and the Franklin Pierce school record.

Leedham scored her 39 points on 16-of-32 shooting from the field. She also totaled seven assists, six rebounds, four steals and three blocks in 39 minutes of action.

Despite her historic individual night, Leedham is most proud of her team’s effort, which produced the Ravens second trip to the NE-10 title game in as many seasons. Franklin Pierce will look to defend its conference tournament title on Sunday when the top-seeded Ravens play host to third-seeded Stonehill at 1 p.m. in The Fieldhouse.

Two other Ravens scored in double-figures including sophomore center Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.), who had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds in her first career start. Junior guard Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I.) added 11 points and four assists. Sophomore forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) also had a strong game of six points and seven rebounds.

Bentley scored the game’s first six points to take the early upper-hand. However, Franklin Pierce quickly produced an answer of 10-consecutive points to take a 10-6 lead with 14:33 remaining. White sparked the rally with a three-point play on a layup and foul shot, while Leedham capped it with five-straight points, including a deep three from the right wing.

The Ravens would never trail the rest of the way and they quickly extended their lead out to 10 at 26-16 minutes later following a jumper from Giroud.

Leedham, who had 23 points in the opening 20 minutes, capped the scoring in the first half with a layup to send Franklin Pierce into the locker room at halftime with a commanding 45-25 advantage.

Bentley tried to claw its way back into it in the early stages of the second half and did manage to pull within 48-36 with 16:46 left.

Again, Franklin Pierce had a response and over the next seven minutes opened up a 25-point advantage at 63-38. Leedham capped the surge with back-to-back layups, including the record-breaking basket.

The Falcons never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way as Franklin Pierce cruised on for its third win in as many tries versus Bentley this season. The Ravens also downed the Falcons, 71-61, in Rindge back on Dec. 18, and then pulled out a 77-73 win in Waltham, Mass. back on Feb. 20 in front of a national television audience on CBS College Sports Network.

Franklin Pierce will meet Stonehill on Sunday for the conference championship. The Skyhawks advanced to Sunday’s title tilt following a 55-53 win at second-seeded Pace on Friday night.

Franklin Pierce and Stonehill will be meeting for the third time this season with the Ravens picking up wins in the first two meetings. Franklin Pierce downed the Skyhawks, 77-66, back on Dec. 11, and then handed Stonehill a 71-50 setback in Easton, Mass. back on Feb. 3.

Tickets will be available for the game and sold at the door the day of. Adult tickets are $7, while children and seniors are $4. College students showing an ID can purchase tickets for just $1.

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