Top-seeded Ravens survive battle with fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets to reach Sunday's NE-10 Championship for first time in program history

Boxscore 

RINDGE, N.H. (March 6, 2009) - Top-seeded and regular season champion Franklin Pierce University, ranked 19^th in this week's USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll and first in the NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, survived a pair of comeback efforts from fourth-seeded American International College, among other teams receiving votes nationally and ranked fourth in the region, to claim a 55-50 victory in semifinal round action of the 2009 Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball tournament at the Fieldhouse tonight.

Franklin Pierce (23-5, 18-4 NE-10) advances to the Northeast-10 Championship game for the first time since joining the Conference in 2000 and will face the NE-10 Championship standard-bearer in third-seeded Bentley University (21-10, 15-7 NE-10) on Sunday at 1 p.m. The winner will also receive the NE-10's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament, with pairings to be released on Sunday night at 9 p.m. Bentley, winners of a Conference-record 14 Tournament titles, reached the championship round for a record 21^st time by posting a 65-63 victory over seventh-seeded College of Saint Rose tonight in Waltham, Mass.

Franklin Pierce will be making its first appearance in a conference championship game since dropping their second of two-straight New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) title games in 1999. The Ravens last tournament championship came in the NECC in 1992 under current assistant coach Steve Hancock.

American International (20-12, 14-8 NE-10) is a virtual lock to receive one of the five at large bids to next weekend's NCAA East Regional when they are announced on Sunday night.

Franklin Pierce was led by the sister combination of Jennifer and Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) who combined for 32 of the Ravens 55 points. Johannah, a junior All-American and Great Britain international, grinded out a game-high 22 points (14 second half) on 8-of-15 shooting, including 2-for-7 from three-point range, and converted 4-of-6 free-throws to go with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jennifer, a senior, contributed ten points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Franklin Pierce also got good production from freshman Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) who finished just a point and rebound shy of her second double-double of the season with nine points and team-best nine rebounds (six offensive), adding two steals. Sophomore Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I./LaSalle Academy) also netted nine points (all first half). 

Junior Stacy Boisvert (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) led American International with a double-double performance of 14 points and a game-high ten rebounds (five offensive), shooting 5-for-13 from the field and converting all four free-throw attempts before fouling out with 3:21 left. Sophomore Laechia Conley (Urbandale, Iowa/Hoover) added 11 points, five rebounds and eight assists, while freshman Rhea Pascal (Pickering, Ontario/Notre Dame) chipped in eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and four rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.

Franklin Pierce finished shooting 37-percent (20-for-54) from the field, just shading American International who finished shooting 35.8-percent (19-for-53) after hitting at 48.1% (13-27) in the second half. While rebounds were even at 34, Franklin Pierce posted a 14-8 advantage in second chance points, and committed two less turnovers (15-13) than AIC.

Franklin Pierce threatened to pull away in the second half, opening a 14-point lead (37-23) after a lay-up from Johannah Leedham three and a half minutes into the frame. Leedham totaled eight points in all during the 10-2 Ravens run, draining back-to-back three's at the start.

After a three-pointer by AIC junior Kristin Bosenberg (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West), Giroud scored a lay-up to give Franklin Pierce a 13-point cushion (39-26) with 15:59 to play. The Yellow Jackets then held the Ravens scoreless over the next three minutes and scored ten-straight points to close within three (39-36) after a free-throw from Conley with 12:07 remaining.

Neither team scored for nearly four minutes when senior Vanessa Power (Mildura, Australia) scored on a drive with 8:20 remaining that sparked a 6-0 Franklin Pierce spurt to regain a nine-point cushion (45-36) after a steal and lay-up from Johannah Leedham with 6:18 to play.

AIC closed within three again (45-42) after a Conley jumper with 4:27 to go, but Franklin Pierce muscled its way back to a seven-point lead (51-44) after a conventional three-point play from Leedham with 2:50 left. That would prove to be the Ravens final field goal of the night, but the Yellow Jackets couldn't take advantage with their leading scorer on the bench with five fouls.

Conley drew AIC within four (54-50) with a pair of free-throws with 1:07 to play and the Yellow Jackets regained possession after a shot clock violation from Franklin Pierce. Conley missed a jumper in the lane with 30-seconds left and Giroud pulled down the rebound. Senior Toby Martin (Wayne, Maine/Maranacook) drained one of two at the free-throw line to round out the scoring and the Yellow Jackets missed a pair of three's in the closing seconds.

AIC held a five-point lead early (7-2) after a three-pointer by senior Jen Moussette (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) four minutes into the contest, but the Yellow Jackets would go scoreless over the next nine minutes and without a field goal for over ten. Franklin Pierce took advantage with a 19-0 run in that time to gain a 14-point cushion (21-7) after a Leedham lay-up 7:13 before halftime.

Boisvert broke the AIC scoring drought with two free-throws with 6:10 left and then Conley hit a jumper to trim the Yellow Jackets deficit to ten (21-11) with 5:39 remaining. Franklin Pierce settled on an eight-point halftime lead (27-19) when Giroud scored a second-chance basket at the horn.