Johannah Leedham Featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd"

Senior standout featured in prestigious magazine for becoming the Northeast-10’s all-time leading scorer in both men’s and women’s basketball

Sports Illustrated "Faces in the Crowd" Online

RINDGE, N.H. (January 21, 2010) – Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball standout Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) is featured in the Jan. 25 issue of the famous magazine, Sports Illustrated. The issue is currently on newsstands now. Leedham is featured in the “Faces in the Crowd” section for becoming the Northeast-10 Conference’s all-time leading scorer in both men’s and women’s basketball. It marks the second time in Leedham’s illustrious career that she has appeared in that particular section in Sports Illustrated and the first time since the Jan. 15, 2007 issue. Leedham is one of 11 Franklin Pierce student-athletes or coaches who have been featured in “Faces in the Crowd.”

Leedham became the conference’s all-time leading scorer for both genders after she tossed in a game-high 28 points in Franklin Pierce’s 65-52 win at New Haven back on Jan. 12. That game marked the second-straight contest Leedham broke an NE-10 record, as she also became the league’s all-time leader in steals when she swiped four in the Ravens 75-60 win over Saint Rose back on Jan. 9.

Leedham broke two other Northeast-10 records earlier this season, as both fell in the same game. Leedham dropped in 34 points and was a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line in Franklin Pierce’s 77-67 win over Molloy back on Nov. 21 in Rindge. The points gave her the league’s all-time scoring record in women’s basketball and the foul shots put her over the top in conference women’s basketball history for career free throws made.

Those moments are just some of the exciting times Leedham and the Ravens have had during the 2009-10 season.

Leedham currently leads the country in scoring and ranks second in steals. Through Wednesday night’s 83-63 win over Assumption, Leedham stands at 2,552 points for her career, which ranks eighth all-time in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history. She also stands at 627 free throws made and 386 steals for her career. Leedham’s total steals is tied for 22nd in Division II history.

Leedham has been named the NE-10’s player of the week five times this season, including four times in the past five weeks. She won the award three-straight weeks from Dec. 14 – Jan. 4, which tied her own school-record for consecutive weekly awards won. Leedham has garnered the conference’s top weekly award an amazing 20 times during her fabulous career.

She has garnered national and world-wide recognition this season as well. Leedham was named the 2009 Preseason National Player of the Year by Women’s Division II Bulletin, the same publication that went on to name her Honorable-Mention Player of the Decade in its December issue.

Leedham earned high praise from her home country in early December as she was named British Basketball’s 2009 Olympic Athlete of the Year. She earned the distinction after helping to lead Great Britain to a respectable sixth-place finish at the 2009 World University Games last summer in Belgrade, Serbia. Leedham averaged 18.9 points, which ranked third among all scorers in the tournament. She joined impressive company in winning the award as the Chicago Bulls’ Luol Deng earned the honor the previous year.

Despite all the impressive individual accolades, Leedham is most proud of the fact that she has helped lead Franklin Pierce to a 16-0 start this season and the nation’s No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/ESPN WBCA Division II Top-25 Poll. The Ravens earned the country’s top ranking for the first time in program history back on Jan. 5, and have gone 5-0 since. Franklin Pierce has won 29 of its last 30 games overall and 21-consecutive regular season games dating back to the end of last season.

Leedham stands on the verge of another milestone and could accomplish it this Saturday at American International in Springfield, Mass. (1:30 p.m.). She needs just 13 more points to become the school’s all-time leading scorer. Leedham stands in second place in program history for career scoring and only trails Sheila Lindsey, who totaled 2,564 points during her amazing career in Rindge from 1984-88.

Fans wishing to follow Leedham chase history and the Ravens defend their No. 1 ranking against AIC on Saturday can do so online via audio and/or live stats through the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)