Jo. Leedham leads Ravens to first ever win over Falcons in 18 meetings

Boxscore 

WALTHAM, Mass. (November 25, 2008) - Franklin Pierce, ranked seventh in this week's USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, notched its first win over perennial power Bentley University in program history with a 66-55 decision in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action at Dana Athletic Center tonight.

Junior All-American and Great Britain international Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)), the reigning State Farm/WBCA Division II Player of the Year, led three Franklin Pierce players in double-figures with a 24 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field, converting all eight free-throw attempts, to go with six rebounds, five assists, a blocked shot and a steal. The 24 points move Leedham into fourth place on the program's career scoring list with 1,426 points as she passed Franklin Pierce Hall of Famers Kari Hunt (1,405pts) and Dina Sawicki (1,415pts) on the career list tonight.

Senior Toby Martin (Wayne, Maine/Maranacook) added a season-high 14 points and six rebounds, while classmate Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) collected 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, six assists and three steals. Freshman Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) grabbed team and season-high nine rebounds.

Senior Kristy McLean (Staten Island, N.Y./Poly Prep) led Bentley with a career-best 25 points as she hit 8-of-15 shots from the field and converted all eight free-throw attempts to go with five rebounds (three offensive) and two steals. Senior Angela Manfredi (Burton, Ohio/Berkshire) chipped in seven points, while junior Colette Josey (Boston, Mass./Framingham) grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.

Franklin Pierce made 42.6-percent (23-54) of its shots from the field in the game, including 45.2% (14-31) in the second half to build on a five-point (29-24) halftime lead. Bentley hit 30.5% (18-59) of its shots from the field, including 25.7% (9-35) in the first half.

Franklin Pierce gained the final advantage in a first half which featured 11 lead changes and three ties, by closing the frame with a 7-2 run over the final 3:33 to carry a five-point lead (29-24) into halftime. Giroud led the stretch with three of her five points in the game during that time. The Ravens lead fluctuated between three and six points over the first five minutes of the second half, before a Martin three gave them a then game-high nine point advantage (41-32) with 13:46 to go.

Bentley drew back within a possession (43-40) after a conventional three-point play by McLean with 10:55 remaining. Franklin Pierce worked the lead back to nine (51-42) after a Johannah Leedham layup with 8:21 left and Martin hit a jumper to give the Ravens their first double-digit lead (58-47) with 4:28 to go.

Two McLean free-throws pulled Bentley back within seven (58-51) with 3:21 to play, but Franklin Pierce answered with a conventional three-point play and layup by Jennifer Leedham to gain a 12-point lead (63-51) with 1:26 to go. Johannah Leedham sealed the win with a three-pointer with 17-seconds left.

The win is Franklin Pierce's first in 18 meetings all-time between the two programs, including 12 at the Dana Center. The win also avoids back-to-back losses for the Ravens for the first time since February 2007.

Franklin Pierce (3-1, 2-1 NE-10) is off until returning home next Wednesday, December 3, to host Le Moyne College at 5:30 p.m. Bentley (3-4, 1-1 NE-10) travels to the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Sunday with tipoff set for 2 p.m.