Women's Tournament Information

TROY, N.Y. – The Liberty League has announced its weekly award winners in men's and women's basketball and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athletes Tim Rupp and Whitney Coleman have been chosen as the Guards of the Week on either side. Additionally, the Engineers women's team is gearing up for its second straight appearance in the Liberty League Tournament, which begins on Friday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Rupp, a senior guard/forward from Staten Island, N.Y., earned his honor after helping RPI go 2-1 last week, averaging 12.7 points and 4.7 rebounds. He also added a team-best 10 assists and three steals while averaging 21.7 minutes. Rupp shot 63.6% from the field connecting on 14 of 22 attempts. One of his top performances came in a dramatic 67-66 victory over Hamilton on Saturday, when he poured in a game-best 25 points, including the buzzer beating 3-pointer to win the game (watch).

In 24 games, Rupp led the Engineers (15-9; 7-7 Liberty League) in scoring, averaging 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds during the regular season. He also added 57 assists and 26 steals – both team-highs – while contributing three blocks in 22.7 minutes played per contest. The Curtis High School graduate had 13 games with 10 or more points and recorded at least one assist in 21 games.

A graduate student out of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Coleman averaged a double-double of 17.7 points and 11.0 rebounds to lead the Engineers to a 2-1 record last week. She also added a team-best 12 assists, seven blocks and six steals. She posted 19 points and 13 rebounds in a 59-55 loss at Vassar before adding a game-best 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 62-57 win over William Smith. Coleman closed out the week with 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with a game-best six assists in a 59-56 victory over Hamilton the following day.

The former Etiwanda High School standout leads Rensselaer into Friday's Liberty League Semifinals against St. Lawrence, averaging a conference-best 17.6 points per game. Second in the league in rebounding with 9.0 boards per contest, she has 10 double-doubles on the season. She leads the team in assists (99) and steals (58) and is second in blocks (29) and minutes average (33.2).

An eight-time Liberty League Guard of the Week selection this season, Coleman has posted 1,478 points in 101 games to rank second all-time in career scoring. She needs just 29 points to surpass Kaitlyn Saunders '05 as the program's career leader.

Rensselaer (15-10; 10-4 Liberty League) is the third-seed in this weekend's Liberty League Tournament, which will be hosted by Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. With a victory over second-seeded St. Lawrence on Friday (6pm), the Engineers would take on first seeded-Skidmore or fourth-seeded Hamilton in the championship game on Saturday (3pm). Live stats will be available at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/skidmore/wbball/index.htm.