Box Score Box Score / Coleman Sets Two Records

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Rensselaer women's basketball team outscored Skidmore 51-37 in the second half to overcome an 11-point halftime deficit and defeat the Thoroughbreds, 70-67, to capture the Liberty League Tournament.  With the title, the Engineers advance to the NCAA Tournament.  And during the game, graduate student Whitney Coleman scored a team-high 16 points to set two prominent school scoring records.

The Engineers (17-10), who have qualified for the NCAA Tournament once before, find out their opponent on Monday afternoon between 12:30-1pm.  RPI's only other appearance came in the 2000-01 season when they hosted Mount Saint Mary in the first round.  That Rensselaer team finished with a 23-5 record.

Coleman (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda), a guard. now has 479 points on the season and 1,518 career points, breaking the school records in both categories.  She also had a game-high 15 rebounds, four assists and three steals in 37 minutes on her way to earning Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.

Also named to the All-Tournament Team from the Engineers were junior guard Allison Connor (Hudson, NY/Hudson), who had 15 points in the championship game, and sophomore forward Nicole Monroe (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee).  They were joined by Skidmore's Amber Kinsey and Sharlyn Harper.

Skidmore (21-5) got out to a 12-6 lead after a pair of free throws from Dana Leonard and the teams battled back and forth over the next few minutes as RPI cut the deficit to one, 18-17, on a layup from Amanda Brophy (Scituate, MA/Milton Academy) at the 7:50 mark. The Thoroughbreds went on a 12-2 run to close out the half and take a 30-19 lead into the locker rooms.

Skidmore got their lead up to 14 points early in the second half on a free throw from Harper before the Engineers went on a 24-5 run over the next 7:00 and took the lead on a free throw from Coleman at the 12:40 mark. Brophy gave Rensselaer a 12-point advantage at the 2:45 mark on a pair of free throws before the Thoroughbreds battled back into the game.

The teams combined to score 37 points over the final 2:45 with Skidmore outscoring the Engineers, 23-14. The Thoroughbreds cut the lead to three on two separate occasions, a three-pointer from Christina Gargiso with 45 seconds left and a layup from Gargiso with 10 seconds remaining. After Gargiso's layup, RPI tried to make a long pass, but Christine Kemp took it away from Coleman for  the steal.  She sped up court and found Kinsey on the wing, but her game-tying attempt came up just short with two seconds remaining and the Engineers hung on for the win.

The Engineers were 24-36 from the free throw line, including 14-22 in the last 2:45, while Skidmore finished 16-of-22 from the charity stripe.