Earned the honor Monday evening at the league’s annual year-in-review banquet                                         

BURLINGTON, Vt. (June 8, 2010) – Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) was named the co-winner of the 2010 Northeast-10 Conference Woman-of-the-Year award on Monday evening at the league’s annual year-in-review banquet in Burlington, Vt. Leedham will now advance as one of the two conference nominees for the NCAA Woman-of-the-Year award, which will be announced later this summer.

Leedham, a four-year member of the women's basketball team, staked her claim to having one of the finest careers in women’s college basketball history. She finished her career as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division II history with 3,050 career points, which also was the fifth highest total across all divisions in the sport.

Leedham, a three-time NE-10 Player of the Year, earned three national player-of-the-year awards this past spring, including from news agencies such as State Farm/WBCA, Daktronics and Women’s Division II Bulletin. She finished her senior season averaging 26.9 points per game, tops in Division II, and was among the conference leaders in rebounds (7.9), assists (4.38 apg) and was first in steals (4.21 spg). Her steals ranked second in the nation and she finished with 459 for her career, which is seventh most in Division II history.

"The Franklin Pierce Athletics Department and the entire University would like to congratulate Johannah on this prestigious award,” said Bruce Kirsh, Vice President and Director of Athletics at Franklin Pierce. “She is very deserving of the honor, which recognizes her amazing abilities on the court, in the classroom and in the community. Johannah is not only an outstanding basketball player, but an even better person, and that is how I will choose to remember her."

Leedham helped lead the Ravens to two-straight Northeast-10 Championships and three-straight NCAA Division II East Regional titles. Franklin Pierce advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the third straight season and made it all the way to the national semifinals this year. Following the season, Leedham was drafted by the Connecticut Sun in the third round of the 2010 WNBA Draft.

A sports and recreation management major, Leedham graduated with a 3.38 grade point average this past May. She is a three-time NE-10 Academic All-Conference selection as well as the recipient of the inaugural Northeast-10 Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award for women's basketball. Leedham was also named an ESPN The Magazine Second-Team Academic All-American in 2010, while also earning a spot on the publication’s Academic All-District I Team for third-straight year.

In the community, Leedham took an active role speaking with young children following each of the team’s home games this past season. Young children flocked to The Fieldhouse in Rindge during the winter months to watch the Ravens play and then had the opportunity to meet their favorite star. In fact, following the net cutting ceremonies at this year’s NCAA East Regional championship, Leedham presented a piece of the net to several area children.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics and the women’s basketball program, please visit http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)