18th-ranked Ravens to battle 9th-ranked Alaska Anchorage in National Quarterfinal Round on Wednesday at 1 p.m. (EDT)

KEARNEY. Neb. (March 24, 2008) – Franklin Pierce University, ranked 18th in the final regular season USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, will make its debut at the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight against No. 9 University of Alaska Anchorage on Wednesday at 1 p.m. (EDT). The University of Nebraska-Kearney is hosting the Women’s Elite Eight for the second-straight year in its Health & Sports Center.

Tickets for the Women’s Elite Eight are on sale, with all-session adult general admission at $35.00 and student/senior citizen all-session general admission $25.00. Single session adult general admission is $10.00 and $8.00 for students and senior citizens. Children 2 and under will be admitted free in accordance with NCAA guidelines. All-session passes may be purchased in advance by calling Michelle Smidt in the Nebraska-Kearney ticket office at 308/865-1563, single-session tickets are available game days only.

There will be live online or television coverage of all games at the Elite Eight. Wednesday’s quarterfinal rounds can be accessed via www.ncaa.com with a broadband or high speed internet connection, with a link available via the Franklin Pierce athletics website at www.franklinpierce.edu as well. The national semifinals will be broadcast on ESPNU (DirecTV channel 609), with Saturday’s national championship game broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN360.

Franklin Pierce (27-5, 18-4 NE-10) has reached the Elite Eight for the first time in program history after capturing its first Northeast Regional championship a week ago. The Ravens posted an 88-71 victory at top-seeded, No. 4-ranked, and previously unbeaten Holy Family University last Monday night in Philadelphia. Franklin Pierce is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history overall – and first since 1999. The Ravens also reached the NCAA’s in 1992, ’93, ’94 and ’98.

Franklin Pierce, which has posted a program record 27 wins so far this season, ranks among team leaders in the Northeast-10 in several statistical categories. The Ravens are the top-shooting team in the Conference, hitting 45.6-percent of its shots from the field (16th nationally), including an NE-10 best 37.9-percent from three-point range (14th). They also lead the NE-10 in scoring margin (+13.5, 16th nationally), assists (16.75/gm, 26th) and forced turnovers (22.4/gm), while ranking second in scoring (71.3 ppg).

Franklin Pierce is also strong defensively, leading the NE-10 in three-point field goal percentage defense (.278) and steals (11.91/gm, 17th nationally). The Ravens rank among NE-10 defensive leaders in scoring defense (57.9 ppg, 5th NE-10, 23rd nationally) and field goal percentage defense (.364, 4th NE-10, 33rd) as well.

Leading the way for Franklin Pierce is the sister combination of junior co-captain Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) and sophomore All-American Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy). One or the other sister has led Franklin Pierce in scoring in all but two games over the last two seasons and 31 of 32 games this year. They have accounted for 46.7-percent of the Ravens scoring this season, averaging a combined 33.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 5.4 steals this season.

Johannah Leedham, the NE-10 Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player at the Northeast Regional, is averaging a Conference-best 22.7 points per game (3rd nationally) and 3.4 steals (12th nationally) to go with a team-best 6.7 rebounds (12th NE-10) and 4.0 assists (5th) per contest. She is shooting 48.3-percent from the field this season (9th NE-10), including 35.8-percent from three-point range (8th), while converting 83% of her free-throws (6th). Leedham has set a new single-season program record with 727 points to date and broken her own single-season marks for steals (109) and free-throws made (166). She currently holds no less than 23 program records at Franklin Pierce and has scored in double-figures in each of her 57 career collegiate games.

Jennifer Leedham, named to the All-Tournament team at last week’s Northeast Regional and a third team All-Northeast-10 selection, adds 10.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists (4th NE-10) and 2.1 steals (8th) per game. She is shooting 44.5-percent from the field, including 38.8-percent from three-point range (5th). Junior Vanessa Power (Mildura, Australia) adds 7.2 points off the bench, shooting 39.2-percent from three-point range (4th NE-10). Senior Josie Lidke (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) chips in 6.9 points, including a Conference-best 48-percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Alaska Anchorage (29-4, 15-3 GNAC), also making its first Elite Eight appearance, captured the West Region Championship with a 50-44 win at No. 2-ranked and previously undefeated Seattle Pacific University on Monday. The Seawolves have place both the men’s and women’s teams in the Elite Eight, with the men competing in Springfield, Mass.

UAA averages 71.2 points per game, shooting 43.5-percent from the field, including 34.6% from three-point range, and enjoys a +20 scoring margin (2nd nationally) and +11.1 rebounding margin (4th) for the season. The Seawolves have held their opponents to 51.1 points per game (4th) on 34.1-percent shooting from the field (6th), including 32% from beyond the arc.

Junior Rebecca Kielpinski (Mandan, N.D./Mandan), the West Regional’s Most Outstanding Player, leads Alaska Anchorage with 12.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, to go with 2.2 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per contest. She is shooting 52.6-percent from the field. Senior Kalhie Quinones (Loveland, Colo./Thompson Valley), a transfer from Utah State, adds 10.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.3 steals, shooting 44.6-percent from the field.

Senior Maria Nilsson (Skovde, Sweden) contributes 9.9 points, shooting 40.2-percent (82-204) from three-point range, and 3.2 rebounds, while junior Ruby Williams (Phoenix, Ariz./Maryvale) chips in 9.5 points, shooting 52.9-percent from the field, and 5.2 rebounds per game.

The schools, separated by approximately 4,542 miles, will meet for the first time ever on Wednesday. The two Universities are also separated by a wide gap in enrollment, with 1,700 undergraduates attending Franklin Pierce and 19,692 enrolled at Alaska Anchorage. Franklin Pierce has also never faced a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference before Wednesday and are 1-1 all-time against West Region opposition. The Ravens split a pair of games at Cal State Bakersfield (L, 84-55) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (W, 69-64) during a California trip in December 2004.

The winner of Wednesday’s contest will face the winner of Wednesday’s second contest between South Atlantic region champions Wingate University (26-7) and Great Lakes champion Northern Kentucky University (25-8) in Thursday’s semifinal round at 8 p.m. (EDT). The national champion will be crowned on Saturday, March 29, at 6 p.m. (EDT).

2008 NCAA Division II
Women’s Elite Eight
Hosted by University of Nebraska-Kearney
All times eastern

Wednesday, March 26
Quarterfinals (NCAA.com/CSTV Broadband)
#18 Franklin Pierce (27-5) vs. #9 Alaska-Anchorage (29-4), 1 p.m.
Wingate (26-7) vs. Northern Kentucky (25-8), 3:30 p.m.
#23 California-Pennsylvania (27-6) vs. #1 Delta State (32-0), 7 p.m.
#24 Washburn (26-6) vs. #3 South Dakota (31-1), 9:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 27
Semifinals (ESPNU)
Franklin Pierce/Alaska-Anchorage winner vs. Wingate/Northern Kentucky winner, 8 p.m.
Cal-PA/Delta State winner vs. Washburn/South Dakota winner, 10:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 29
National Championship (ESPN2 & ESPN360)
Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.