#14 Franklin Pierce Opens Regional Title Defense Tomorrow

Top-seeded Ravens set to open NCAA Tournament against eighth-seeded Philadelphia in East Regional first round, hosted by Holy Family University, at 1 p.m.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (March 12, 2009) - Top-seeded and No. 14-ranked Franklin Pierce University, regular season and tournament champions of the Northeast-10 Conference, will open defense of its regional title when it faces eighth-seeded Philadelphia University, tournament champions from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), in first round action of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship Tournament East Regional, hosted by Holy Family University, tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Admission for each session is $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for senior citizens and $3.00 for students. Children ages two and under will be admitted free. Franklin Pierce's student-run radio station, WFPC-LP 105.3 FM, will be broadcasting all Franklin Pierce games during the regional, with the broadcast also simulcast via the internet at athletics.franklinpierce.edu. Holy Family will also offer live video webcasting, which will also be linked through the Franklin Pierce athletics website.

Franklin Pierce (24-5, 18-4 NE-10) earned its seventh trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament by way of capturing the Northeast-10's automatic bid with Sunday's 93-81 victory over Bentley University, winning the first NE-10 Tournament championship in Ravens history. The Ravens, who won their first regional title in program history here a year ago, also earned NCAA bids in 1992, '93, '94, '98, '99 and 2008.

Philadelphia (21-9, 13-5 CACC) is making its eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament after earning an automatic berth by way of its 72-63 victory over Wilmington (Del.) University in the CACC championship. The Rams have also earned NCAA Tournament bids in 1986, '89, ‘93, '94, '97, '98 and 2001. Philadelphia, then known as Philadelphia Textile, captured a regional championship in its first NCAA Tournament in 1986.

Franklin Pierce, who enter the NCAA Tournament winners of eight-straight, 18 of 19 and 20 of 22, leads the NE-10 in scoring (74.1 ppg), scoring margin (+11.8), field goal percentage (.444), assists (16.7/gm) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0). They also rank second in blocked shots (4.0/gm), steals (10.2/gm), turnover margin (+2.8) and three-point field goals (7.4/gm) and third in three-point shooting percentage (.362). The Ravens have scored 80-plus points 13 times this season, posting a 12-1 record in those games with the lone loss a double-overtime setback to Grand Canyon University back on December 30 in Phoenix. Franklin Pierce has lost just once since, rolling to an 18-1 mark after the calendar turned to 2009, including a perfect 9-0 clip in the month of January.

Franklin Pierce is led by the Leedham sisters, the All-East Region combo, who have combined to average 35.3 points this season, accounting for 46.5-percent of the Ravens scoring output. One or the other sister has led Franklin Pierce in scoring in all but four games (86 of 90) over the last three seasons, including 27 of the Ravens 29 contest so far this year.

Junior All-American Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)), named the Daktronics East Region and Northeast-10 Player of the Year for the second straight season, leads the NE-10 in scoring for the third-straight season, averaging 23.2 points (6^th nationally) and a Conference-best 3.0 steals per game to go with 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists (14^th NE-10) and 1.4 blocked shots per contest (7^th). She is shooting 49-percent (219-for-447) from the field (10^th), including 37.2% (67-180) from three-point range (9^th), and converting 85.8% (145-169) of her free-throw attempts (6^th), while her 2.4 three-point field goals per game are tied for the NE-10 lead. 

Senior Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)), a Daktronics All-Region and All-Northeast-10 second team selection this year as well as the NE-10's Defensive Player of the Year, is averaging 12.1 points (20^th), 3.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists (3^rd) and 2.3 steals (5^th) per game in a team-high 32.4 minutes per game. She also ranks tenth among NE-10 leaders for assist turnover ratio.

Sophomore Tori Ahrens (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) has also provided solid production, averaging 7.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and a block (8^th) per game. She leads the NE-10 in field goal percentage at .563 (89-for-158) and ranks tenth with her 2.4 offensive rebounds per contest. Classmate Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I./LaSalle Academy) is coming off an All-Tournament team performance at the NE-10 Championships where she averaged 13 points, 2.3 assists and a steal. For the season, she is averaging 5.6 points and 2.2 assists in 21 minutes per game primarily off the bench.

Philadelphia enters the NCAA Tournament winners of four straight and six of seven after its run to the CACC crown last week. The Rams boast the CACC's top offense, averaging 68.8 points per game, while ranking fifth in scoring defense (60.8 ppg). They also lead the conference in field goal percentage (.423), three-point percentage (.374) and free-throw percentage (.760), while ranking second in three-point field goals (5.9/gm) and scoring margin (+8.1).

Philadelphia is led by junior All-Region center Jessica Romano (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) who averages a double-double at 18.7 points (2^nd CACC) and 11.0 rebounds (1^st) per game, to go with 35 assists, 35 steals and 28 blocked shots this winter. She is shooting 83.8-percent (218-for-260) from the free-throw line (5^th), getting to the line an average of 8.7 times per game.

The Rams feature a sister combination of their own in senior Amanda Brennan and junior Kate Brennan (Stratford, N.J./Sterling), who combine to average 22.6 points per game. Amanda is second on the team with 14.3 points per game (10^th) to go with 2.6 rebounds, shooting 42-percent (87-207) from three-point range (3^rd) and converting 90% (99-110) of her free-throw attempts (2^nd). Kate adds 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per contest.

Sophomore Stephanie Agger (North Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May) chips in 8.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals (5^th) per game.

Tomorrow marks just the third meeting all-time between these two programs, the first in postseason play but first in the NCAA Tournament. Each team has won once in the series, with Franklin Pierce posting a 61-60 victory over Philadelphia in the championship game of the 2006 ECAC Division II Tournament in a game played at Holy Family's Campus Center Gym. The Rams posted a 61-52 victory over the Ravens at Stonehill College in 1988.

Heather Jacobs earned Tournament MVP honors for Franklin Pierce as she scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, to go with a team-high eight rebounds (four offensive), five assists and two blocked shots in the 2006 ECAC Championship. Stephanie Bergeron netted a team-high 15 points (13 first half) for the Ravens. Meg Abele led Philadelphia with a game-high 23 points, aided by 10-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line, while Ashley Webster notched a double-double with ten points and ten boards to go with two steals.

The winner of Friday's matchup will advance to Saturday's second round (6 p.m.) of the NCAA Tournament to face the winner of tomorrow's second game of the opening session between fifth-seeded American International College (20-12, 14-8 NE-10) and fourth-seeded Bentley (21-11, 15-7 NE-10), both among other teams receiving votes in this week's WBCA national poll. The regional concludes with Monday's regional championship at 7 p.m.               The winner of this year's East Regional will advance to the NCAA Division II Championships in San Antonio, Texas, hosted by Saint Mary's University, March 24-27, at Bill Greehey Arena.

2009 NCAA Division II
Women's Basketball Tournament East Regional
(hosted by Holy Family University, Philadelphia, Pa.)

Friday, March 13 (First Round)
#1 Franklin Pierce (24-5, 18-4 NE-10) vs. #8 Philadelphia (21-9, 13-5 CACC), 1 p.m.
#4 Bentley (21-11, 15-7 NE-10) vs. #5 American International (20-12, 14-8 NE-10), 3 p.m.
#3 Stonehill (20-8, 15-7 NE-10) vs. #6 Saint Rose (20-10, 13-9 NE-10), 6 p.m.
#2 Holy Family (25-5, 18-0 CACC) vs. #7 Queens (24-6, 15-3 ECC), 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 14 (Second Round)
Franklin Pierce/Philadelphia vs. Bentley/American Int'l, 6 p.m.
Stonehill/Saint Rose vs. Holy Family/Queens, 8 p.m.

Monday, March 15 (Regional Final/Third Round)
Second Round winners, 7 p.m.