Johannah Leedham tops 2,300 points for her career; becomes just the 18th player in Division II women’s basketball history to accomplish the feat

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (December 11, 2009) – The second-ranked Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team picked up its biggest win of the young season Friday night by taking a 77-66 decision over 21st-ranked Stonehill at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens ran their record to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the Northeast-10, while Stonehill dipped to 8-4 and 4-2 in the league.

The win for Franklin Pierce was its second this season over a team that was either ranked or receiving votes for the USA Today/ESPN WBCA Division II Top-25 Poll at the time of competition. The other game was a 77-67 triumph over Molloy back on Nov. 21, as the Lions were receiving votes in the national rankings.

In that game, senior standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) broke the Northeast-10 women’s basketball career records for scoring and free throws made. Because of those accomplishments, Leedham was honored prior to Friday night’s game as part of Pierce Pride/Johannah Leedham Night in The Fieldhouse. Franklin Pierce President Dr. James Birge was on hand to present Leedham with the official game ball that was used in the contest and a framed portrait of her record-breaking shot.

Leedham was honored by the ceremony, but everyone in attendance knew that she was more focused on competing against the Skyhawks on this evening.

In a rematch of last season’s NCAA East Regional Championship – which the Ravens won to advance to the Elite Eight for the second-straight season – Franklin Pierce quickly seized the upper hand as it raced out to a 15-2 lead a little more than three minutes into the contest.

Leedham ignited the surge with 11 points, including a trio of three-pointers. The back-to-back threes early in the run put Leedham over 2,300 points for her career, as she became just the 18th player in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history to accomplish the career scoring feat.

The opening flurry for Leedham was all part of her masterful performance during the game as she scored a game-high 24 points, grabbed six rebounds, handed out nine assists, swiped four steals and blocked five shots. Her totals came on the heels of an amazing week as she was named British Basketball’s 2009 Olympic Athlete of the Year on Monday, and was named Honorable-Mention Player of the Decade by Women’s Division II Bulletin on Thursday.
Junior center Tori Ahrens (East Greenwich, R.I.), who pumped in 15 points during the contest, also aided in the opening run with a pair of layups.

The Ravens kept adding to their lead as the opening minutes went by and used four-consecutive points from junior guard Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I.) to grab a 21-6 advantage with 13:09 remaining in the half. Gaudet also had a strong offensive game for the Ravens as she netted 17 points.

Franklin Pierce pushed its lead out to 27 at 40-13 with 5:45 left in the frame on a free throw by Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland), who had 14 rebounds in the game.

The game looked to be out of reach, but Stonehill responded and slowly chipped away at the deficit and got it to within 17 at 47-30 at halftime. The run was aided by a pair of three-pointers from Megan Methven.

Stonehill kept up the offensive production in the early stages of the second half and pulled to within five at 54-49 with 11:03 to go.

Franklin Pierce settled down after the Stonehill’s hot-shooting and calmly put together a run of its own. The Ravens went on an 8-2 run over a five-and-a-half minute span to go back up by double-digits at 62-51 with 5:52 left in the contest. Leedham converted a three-point play during the middle segment of the run to keep it alive, while Ahrens capped it with a layup.

That run put an end to Stonehill’s chances of a comeback as it could not get within single digits the rest of the contest.

Ahrens hit a layup minutes later to push the lead out to 14 at 68-54 with 2:29 remaining. Leedham and Gaudet each hit multiple free throws in the final two minutes to help seal the win for Franklin Pierce.

Kelsey Simonds and Emily Rousseau each tossed in 18 points to pace the Stonehill offensive attack.

Franklin Pierce returns to action next Friday when it plays host to Bentley at 2 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The game will be a rematch of last season’s Northeast-10 Tournament Championship game, which the Ravens won to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)