Dec. 17, 2007

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Georgia Tech's Janie Mitchell and Boston College's Stefanie Murphy were named Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week after leading their respective teams to difficult wins over the weekend. Mitchell led Georgia Tech to a hard-fought 70-58 win over Mississippi State on Sunday, boosting the Yellow Jackets' season record to 8-1. Murphy, who has now earned ACC rookie honors for four consecutive weeks, collected two more double-doubles last week, moving to within one of the school's all-time rookie record of nine.

Mitchell, a senior forward from Jackson, Miss., led the Yellow Jackets to a come-from-behind win over Mississippi State on Sunday with 11 second-half points. Behind her strong play, Georgia Tech outscored the Bulldogs 44-29 in the game's second stanza to pull away and register the program's first-ever victory against Mississippi State. Mitchell finished the game with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting and also pulled down eight rebounds in the win. With her performance, she pushed her season scoring average to 16.3, good for seventh in the ACC.

In two games last week, Murphy notched 30 points to go along with 26 rebounds as the Eagles improved their record to 8-3. Against Fairfield on Tuesday, Dec. 11, she went 5-for-12 from the floor, scoring 13 points and adding 12 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season. On Sunday, the rookie forward from Londonderry, N.H., scored 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Eagles overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat LaSalle 66-60. Murphy currently leads all ACC freshmen, and ranks second in the league, in both scoring (19.1) and rebounding (11.2). She also ranks fifth with an overall shooting percentage of .593.

Boston College will next take the court on Saturday, Dec. 22 at noon, when they take on the Black Bears of Maine in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Mitchell and the Yellow Jackets will see their next action on Tuesday, Dec. 18, in a 4:00 p.m. contest at Mississippi Valley State. Georgia Tech will then take on Georgia State in a 1:00 p.m. tip on Dec. 22.