Feb. 8, 2010

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Miami sophomore guard Shenise Johnson and NC State freshman guard  earned this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week honors for the period ending Feb. 7. Johnson registered one of her best collegiate games in an upset win over ninth-ranked North Carolina, while Kastanek proved to be crucial in the Wolfpack pulling off a much-needed ACC victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday.

Johnson scored 25 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out six assists and matched a career-high with eight steals as Miami defeated a top-10 squad for the first time since Dec. 19, 1991 with its 80-69 victory over No. 9 North Carolina. The league win for Miami allowed the Hurricanes to become eligible for postseason play for the first time since the 2005-06 season, which also was the last time that Miami won more than two games inside conference play. Against SIU Edwardsville, the Henrietta, N.Y., native scored a team-high 16 points and just missed her seventh double-double of the season as she added nine rebounds.

Johnson currently ranks third in the league in scoring (18.1 ppg), third in steals (3.3 spg), fifth in assists (4.4 apg), fifth in 3-point percentage (37.7), seventh in rebounding (7.7 rpg), and eighth in field goal percentage (49.2). In addition, Johnson tops all ACC student-athletes in minutes played, averaging 33.5 minutes per game.

Kastanek scored a team-high 19 points to lead NC State to a 70-57 victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday in the Pack’s Reynolds Coliseum. The Lincoln, Neb., native made three-of-six shots from beyond the arc, grabbed five rebounds and came up with four steals. Kastanek ranks second among ACC freshmen in scoring at 10.2 points per game and has made a rookie-best 38 3-pointers in 23 contests played this season.

ACC women’s basketball action continues tonight as six league teams compete. Virginia travels to snow-filled Maryland for a 7 p.m. regionally televised game on the league’s sports network, while North Carolina takes on Duke in Cameron Indoor, an ESPN2 contest also at 7 p.m. To wrap up the ACC women’s basketball festivities for the evening, Clemson will host Georgia Tech in a 7 p.m. tilt.

For more information on ACC women’s basketball, log onto theACC.com. Be sure to check out the new version of the league’s “She Can Play” theme song – The Remix – on theACC.com/SheCanPlay.