Johannah Leedham leads four Ravens in double-figures with 27
points, including 17 in the second half
BOXSCORE
RINDGE, N.H. (January 20, 2010) – The
top-ranked Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team
remained perfect on Wednesday night with an 83-63 triumph over
Assumption College in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens ran
their record to 16-0 overall, 12-0 in the Northeast-10 Conference
and 5-0 since becoming the nation's top-ranked team in the
USA Today/ESPN WBCA Division II Top-25 Poll back on Jan. 5.
Assumption fell to 9-8 and 6-6 in league play.
Senior forward Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port,
England), the reigning Northeast-10 Player of the Week,
dumped in a game-high 27 points, including scoring 17 in the second
half. She also collected six rebounds, handed out six assists,
swiped seven steals and blocked a pair of shots. Her 17 points
keyed a second-half surge which saw the Ravens pull away for the
win.
Three other Ravens scored in double-figures. Juniors
Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I.) and Tori
Ahrens (East Greenwich, R.I.) chipped in 12 points apiece,
while sophomore forward Jewel White (Worcester,
Mass.) came off the bench to tally 11 points and eight
rebounds.
Kayla Parker led the Greyhounds with 17 points, while Kelly
Meredith and Gabrielle Gibson followed with 16 and 13 points,
respectively.
The first half saw a tightly contest affair which featured seven
ties and 10 lead changes.
Katy Howard knocked down a three for the Greyhounds with 15:51
remaining in the half to lift them to a 15-12 lead. Leedham and
Ahrens followed with back-to-back layups to quickly put Franklin
Pierce back on top 16-15.
Both teams traded baskets during the next several minutes and the
game was deadlocked at 25 with 7:02 left in the half after Meredith
laid in a basket for Assumption.
The Ravens settled and quickly went about building a lead.
Sophomore forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny,
Switzerland) knocked down a triple to kick-start a 7-0 run
for Franklin Pierce as it held a 32-25 lead with 4:25 left. Senior
guard Rachel Kimball (Rotterdam, N.Y.) converted a
basket and Leedham tallied a layup to continue the surge.
Leedham hit a pair of free throws minutes later and Franklin Pierce
found itself with a 39-30 lead. However, Parker scored the
half's final five points to pull Assumption within four,
39-35, at halftime.
Franklin Pierce held a 22-14 advantage in points in the paint and a
dominating 12-0 advantage in points off turnovers during the first
20 minutes.
The Ravens went to work quickly in the second half and put the game
out of reach in the opening two-and-a-half minutes with a 7-0 run
to make it 46-35. Gaudet started the early run with a basket,
Leedham followed with a free throw, Ahrens then laid in a basket,
and Leedham capped it with a layup.
Parker stemmed the tide with a jumper to pull the Greyhounds within
nine. However, Franklin Pierce countered by scoring the
game's next 10 points to open up a commanding 56-37 lead with
15:25 remaining. Assumption would never threaten after that as
Franklin Pierce pulled away for the win. Leedham scored the first
seven points of the run off a pair of layups and then a
three-pointer. Doldoorian capped it with a trey of her own.
It marked the second-straight game the Ravens won by 20 points.
Franklin Pierce downed Southern Connecticut State, 88-68, back on
Saturday afternoon in The Fieldhouse. The 88 points were a
season-high for the Ravens.
The Ravens have won 29 of their last 30 games overall and
21-straight regular season games dating back to the end of last
season.
Franklin Pierce returns to action on Saturday afternoon when it
travels to face American International in Springfield, Mass. at
1:30 p.m. Fans wishing to follow the game can do so online via
audio and/or live stats through the team's page at
athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)
Leedham stands on the verge of achieving another milestone and can
do so in Saturday's game. She stands just 13 points shy of
becoming the school's all-time leading scorer. Leedham, who
currently has 2,552 points for her career, is second in program
history for career scoring, trailing only Sheila Lindsey, who had
2,564 points during her illustrious career in Rindge from
1984-88.
For more information on the top-ranked Franklin Pierce
women's basketball program, please visit the team's
page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)
