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Posted: Mar 15, 2010

No. 2 Women's Basketball Captures NCAA East Regional Championship With 82-79, Overtime Victory Over Holy Family

No. 2 Women's Basketball Captures NCAA East Regional Championship With 82-79, Overtime Victory Over Holy Family
Box Score

Johannah Leedham drops in 34 points to top 3,000 for her career; Ravens win third-straight regional title to advance to NCAA Division II Elite Eight

BOXSCORE

FITCHBURG, Mass. (March 15, 2010) -- Senior forward Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) scored 34 points, surpassing 3,000 for her career, and added eight rebounds on Monday night to lead the No. 2 nationally ranked and top-seeded Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team to an 82-79, overtime victory over second-seeded Holy Family in the final round of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball East Regional, hosted by Franklin Pierce at the Fitchburg State College Recreation Center.
 
With the win, the Ravens advance to the Elite Eight, scheduled for March 23, 24 and 26 in St. Joseph, Mo. Franklin Pierce will play at 2:30 p.m. on March 23 against the winner of the South Region championship game between Arkansas Tech and Delta State.
 
Leedham was joined in double digits by junior guard Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I.) with 16 points and sophomore center Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) with 14. Leedham and White were named to the All-East Regional Team, and Leedham collected regional Most Outstanding Player honors as well.
 
Senior forward Christine McCollum led Holy Family with a career-high and game-high 37 points.
Franklin Pierce held a 70-65 lead with 3:27 left after White converted a pair of free throws.
 
However, Holy Family went on a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 72-70 advantage. It marked the first time all season the Ravens trailed with under five minutes remaining.
 
Leedham made the first of two free throws, but came up short on the second, as Franklin Pierce was forced to foul late trailing 72-71. Catherine Carr could only convert one free throw to make it 73-71 Holy Family. White the grabbed the rebound on the second miss and outletted it to Leedham who was immediately fouled.
 
This time, Leedham wouldn’t miss as she converted both foul shots to knot the game at 73. Holy Family had a last second attempt, but it came up short, sending the game into overtime.
 
Leedham made two more foul shots to open the extra session and White followed with layup to put the Ravens up by a score of 77-73 with 2:42 to go. McCollum answered with a triple to cut the deficit to one for Holy Family.
 
It was then Leedham’s turn to make a basket and she did so by laying in an attempt to put the Ravens up 79-76 with 1:47 left. The Tigers couldn’t convert at the other end and Gaudet was fouled after collecting the board. She made both foul shots to make it a five-point game, but McCollum responded at the other end with a three-point play to pull Holy Family within 81-79.
 
The final frantic seconds saw Leedham make a free throw to make it a three-point game, and Holy Family could not respond with a tying basket, allowing the Ravens to walk away with the win.
 
Franklin Pierce shot 51 percent (27-of-53) from the field and 77 percent from the free throw line (23-of-30). Holy Family shot 45 percent (32-of-71) from the floor.
 
The Ravens raced out to a 23-4 lead eight minutes into the game and looked to be in complete control. However, Holy Family eventually tied the game at 34-34 with 2:06 left in the half after a layup from Meghan Gibson.
Franklin Pierce, though, scored the final seven points of the stanza to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.