Leedhams and Swasey Earn NE-10 Postseason Honors

Jo. Leedham earns NE-10 Player of the Year award for second-straight year
Je. Leedham selected as NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year
Sisters also collect All-Conference honors for second-straight year
Swasey named NE-10 Coach of the Year

RINDGE, N.H. (February 27, 2009) - The Northeast-10 Conference regular season champion Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team is well represented as the Conference has announced its postseason honors, as selected by the Conference's 15 head coaches, this morning.

Junior All-American and Great Britain international Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) has been voted the NE-10 Player of the Year for the second-straight season, while senior Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)) has earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in the Conference for the first time. The sisters also collected All-Northeast-10 honors, with Johannah named to the first team for the third-straight year and Jennifer collecting second team honors after being selected to the third team as a junior. 

Franklin Pierce head coach Mark Swasey was also recognized by his peers as he was selected as the NE-10 Coach of the Year for the first time. Swasey, who collected his 100^th victory at Franklin Pierce with the Ravens 76-44 triumph over Merrimack College on December 22, has posted a 116-84 (.580) record over seven seasons at the University. It marks the second time in his coaching career he has earned Coach of the Year accolades, having been named Great Northeast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in his final season at Norwich University in 2001-02.

Swasey, who owns a career coaching record of 172-110 (.610) over ten years, led Franklin Pierce to its first Northeast-10 regular season championship since joining the Conference in 2000 and first Conference title overall since the Ravens captured their second of two-straight regular season titles in the old New England Collegiate Conference in 1998-99. The Ravens, who enter the postseason winners of five-straight, 15 of 16 and 17 of 19, lead the NE-10 in scoring (73.8 ppg), scoring margin (+11.7), field goal percentage (.442), assists (16.7/gm) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0). They also rank second in blocked shots (4.1/gm), steals (10.0/gm), turnover margin (+2.3) and three-point field goals (7.5/gm) and third in rebound margin (+2.1) and three-point shooting percentage (.363).

Franklin Pierce's schedule this season featured 19 games against teams that are currently .500 or better, with the Ravens posting a 14-5 mark in those contests. The team also took care of business against sub-.500 clubs, going 7-0. Swasey is the fourth Conference Coach of the Year in program history, first since entering the NE-10, joining two-time honoree and current assistant coach Steve Hancock (1992 & '94) and current men's head coach David Chadbourne (1998) who both collected the award in the NECC.

Johannah Leedham, the reigning State Farm/WBCA Division II Player of the Year, is just the third women's basketball player in NE-10 history to earn Player of the Year honors multiple times and the first since Stonehill College's Michelle Doonan earned the award in 1993-94 and '94-95. Bentley University's Alison Fay earned the award three-straight years from 1981-84. Leedham is the first two-time Conference Player of the Year in program history and first three-time All-Conference selection for the Ravens since joining the NE-10 in 2000 and first overall since Amiina Robinson was named first team All-NECC in 1999-2000 before earning 3^rd team All-NE-10 honors in back-to-back years. Leedham is now one of six three-time All-Conference selections in Franklin Pierce's NCAA era (since 1988) and the second three-time first team pick, joining University Hall of Famer Kari Hunt (1996-99).

Leedham leads the NE-10 in scoring for the third-straight season, averaging 22.9 points (6^th nationally) and a Conference-best 3.0 steals per game to go with 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists (15^th NE-10) and 1.4 blocked shots per contest (5^th). She is shooting 48.5-percent (194-for-400) from the field (11^th), including 36.6% (56-153) from three-point range (12^th), and converting 86% (129-150) of her free-throw attempts (6^th), while her 2.2 three-point field goals per game are good for third in the NE-10. Leedham has led the Ravens in scoring in 20 of their 26 games this season, including 18 of 22 NE-10 contests (playing just four minutes in one game due to injury and missing another game due to that injury), and led the team in rebounding nine times, posting four double-doubles.

Leedham, who enters the postseason just 27 points shy of becoming only the second player in program history to score 600 points in a season twice, has already posted the sixth-best scoring total in program history with her 573 points. She is ranked second in program history with 1,909 career points, sixth with 82 blocked shots, seventh with 288 assists and 15^th with 585 rebounds to go with a program-record 287 career steals. Leedham has reached double-figures in scoring in 82 of her 83 career games played, scoring 20-plus points 57 times and netting 30-plus on 21 occasions - six this season including a season-best 37 points in an 83-69 victory over Pace University on January 8.

Jennifer Leedham, the first Defensive Player of the Year in program history, joins her younger sister as one of three Franklin Pierce student-athletes to earn All-NE-10 honors in multiple seasons. She is also one of nine multiple All-Conference picks in the University's NCAA era with her selection to the All-NE-10 second team.

Leedham, who earned NE-10 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career in January, has started all 26 games for Franklin Pierce this season and is averaging 12.3 points (20^th NE-10), 3.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists (3^rd) and 2.3 steals (5^th) in a team-high 32.3 minutes per game this season. She is shooting 40.9-percent (104-for-254) from the field, including 38.7% (46-119) from three-point range (8^th), and converting 77.9% (67-86) of her free-throw attempts while also ranking among NE-10 leaders with 1.8 three-point field goals per game (10^th) and assist/turnover ratio (11^th).

Leedham has led the team in scoring four times this season, scoring a season-best 27 points in Franklin Pierce's 84-70 victory at The College of Saint Rose on January 14. She also collected her first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 12 assists in the Ravens win over Pace on January 8. She enters the postseason second in program history to her sister with 235 career steals, while ranking fourth with 465 assists and eighth all-time with 1,275 career points - becoming the 19^th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau at Stonehill College back on November 22.

The Leedham sisters have been a dangerous combination for opponents to deal with over the last three seasons playing together. One or the other has led Franklin Pierce in scoring in all but four games in that time (83 of 87), including 24 of the Ravens 26 contest so far this season. The two are averaging a combined 35.2 points per game this season, accounting for 47-percent of the Ravens scoring output.

Franklin Pierce (21-5, 18-4 NE-10), ranked 21^st in this week's USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll and first in the NCAA Division II East Region rankings for the third-straight week, is back in action on Tuesday for the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Tournament at 7 p.m. The top-seeded Ravens will host the winner of Sunday's first round match up between 9^th-seeded Southern New Hampshire University and 8^th-seeded Le Moyne College in Syracuse. Franklin Pierce has clinched home court advantage throughout the NE-10 Tournament.