Third-seeded Ravens and top-seeded and host Tigers square off Monday at 7 p.m.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (March 16, 2008) – Third-seeded Franklin Pierce University, ranked 18th in the final USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, will battle top-seeded and No. 4-ranked Holy Family University for the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional Championship at Holy Family’s Campus Center Gymnasium on Monday night at 7 p.m.

Admission to the regional final is $8.00 for general admission, $5.00 for senior citizens, $3.00 for students with valid ID and children under age 2 are free. Live video coverage will be available via www.cacc.tv free of charge. There will be a limited number of fans permitted to view the games, so it is encouraged to sign up as early as possible.

Franklin Pierce (26-5, 18-4 NE-10), which has established a new program record for wins in a season, is making its first appearance in the Sweet 16 after posting wins over sixth-seeded Dominican College (66-54), in Friday’s opening round, and second-seeded and No. 8-ranked Stonehill College (68-56) in last night’s second round. The Ravens are making their sixth NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in program history (1992, ‘93, ’94, ’98 and ’99).

Franklin Pierce is the top shooting team in the Northeast-10, hitting 45.2-percent of its shots from the field (16th nationally), including a Conference-best 37.6% from three-point range (12th nationally). The Ravens also rank among NE-10 leaders in scoring (2nd, 70.8 ppg), scoring defense (4th, 57.5 ppg), scoring margin (1st, +13.3 ppg), assists (1st, 16.65/gm), steals (1st, 12.13/gm) and forced turnovers (1st, 22.8/gm).

Franklin Pierce is led by the All-Conference sister combination of sophomore Johannah and junior co-captain Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)). One or the other sister has led the Ravens in scoring in all but one game this season and all but two over the last two seasons combined.

Johannah, the Northeast-10 Player of the Year and a Daktronics All-Northeast Region pick, leads the NE-10 with 22.5 points (4th nationally) and 3.4 steals (13th) per game this season, to go with 6.6 rebounds (12th NE-10) and 4.0 assists per game (5th). She is shooting 48-percent (242-for-504) from the field (9th), including 36.2% (51-141) from three-point range (7th), and converting 83% (161-194) of her free-throw attempts (6th).

Johannah enters Monday’s game just ten points shy of the program’s single-season record for points, set by Shelia Lindsay (706) in 1987-88. With her 696 points, Leedham is just four points shy of notching just the second 700 point season in program history. She has already broken her own single-season records for steals (106) and she needs to make five free-throws to surpass her single-season record for makes (165) in a season.

Leedham is averaging 24.5 points, six rebounds, three assists and 3.5 steals per game in the postseason, including 25.5 points, six rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.5 steals through Franklin Pierce’s two NCAA Tournament wins.

Jennifer, a third team All-NE-10 pick, adds 10.8 points (18th NE-10), 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists (4th) and 2.1 steals (8th) per game. She is shooting 44.2-percent from the field, including 37.9% from three-point range (5th). Junior Vanessa Power (Mildura, Australia) contributes 7.4 points per game off the bench, shooting 39.7% (58-for-146) from three-point range (4th NE-10). Senior Josie Lidke (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) is second in the NE-10 with her .465 (33-71) shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

Holy Family (32-0, 18-0 CACC) is also making its first Sweet 16 appearance after wins over eighth-seeded Molloy College (54-39) on Friday and last night’s win over fifth-seeded Assumption College (73-49) among teams receiving votes nationally. The Tigers, one of three unbeaten teams remaining in Division II, captured both the regular season and tournament championships in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).

Holy Family features three players who average double-figures in scoring, led by freshman Catherine Carr (Bernardsville, N.J.), the CACC Freshman of the Year, with 15.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. She is shooting 43.1-percent (189-439) from the field this season and converts 77.4% (89-115) of her free-throws. Senior Kelly Killion (Pennsauken, N.J.), the CACC Player of the Year the last two years, is averaging 11.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per contest, while sophomore Christine McCollum (Abington, Pa.) adds 11.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game. She shoots a team-best 48.2% (136-282) from the field and converts 89.3% (50-56) of her free-throw attempts.

The Tigers are shooting 40.7-percent from the field this season, including 31.4% from three-point range, and converts 74.7% of their free-throws.

Tomorrow will mark the first ever meeting all-time between these two programs. Franklin Pierce has never lost to a CACC opponent, posting an all-time record of 9-0 after Friday’s NCAA opening round win here over Dominican. Holy Family is 3-0 this season against Northeast-10 opponents after last night’s win over Assumption. The Tigers also have wins this season over Saint Michael’s College (71-59) and Bentley College (62-57).

The winner of tomorrow’s regional final will advance to the NCAA II Elite Eight in Kearney, Neb., March 26-29. The Northeast Region champion will face the regional champ from the West region on Wednesday, March 26. No. 2-ranked Seattle Pacific University (29-0) and No. 9 University of Alaska-Anchorage (28-4) are competing for the West Region title tomorrow in Seattle, Wash.


2008 NCAA Division II Northeast Regional
Hosted by Holy Family University, Philadelphia, Pa.

Friday, March 14
First Round
#2 Stonehill 67, #7 Bryant 58
#3 Franklin Pierce 66, #6 Dominican 54
#1 Holy Family 54, #8 Molloy 39
#5 Assumption 67, #4 Bentley 58

Saturday, March 15
Second Round
#3 Franklin Pierce 68, #2 Stonehill 56
#1 Holy Family 73, #5 Assumption 49

Monday, March 17
Regional Final
#3 Franklin Pierce (26-5) at #1 Holy Family (32-0), 7 p.m.
(winner advances to NCAA II Elite Eight, Kearney, Neb., March 26-29)