TROY, N.Y. – The Liberty League has announced its weekly award winners in women's basketball and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athletes Nicole Monroe and Whitney Coleman and Ben LeRose recognized. Monroe and Coleman were named the Forward and Guard of the Week, respectively, in women's hoops, while LeRose grabbed his sixth top rookie honor in men's swimming & diving.

Monroe, a sophomore forward from Syracuse, N.Y., came off the bench and averaged 11.0 points and 5.5 rebounds to help RPI win the Liberty League Championship and secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In a 67-55 win over St. Lawrence in the semifinals, she had 17 points and six rebounds with a steal and a block. She then posted five points and five boards as the Engineers defeated Skidmore, 70-67, in the championship game.

This is the first Forward of the Week honor for Monroe, who is averaging 6.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in 27 games. She also has nine assists, 10 blocks and 10 steals, while averaging 16.8 minutes per contest. A graduate of West Genesee High School, Monroe has at least one rebound in every game, including 22 contests with three or more caroms. She also has a double-double this season.

A graduate student out of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Coleman navigated the Engineers to an NCAA Tournament berth after averaging 20.0 points and 14.5 rebounds with eight assists and four steals. She also broke the school record for career points (1,518) and single season points (479). In the semifinals against the Saints, she had a game-best 24 points and 14 rebounds. She then posted her fourth straight double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds to go along with four assists and three steals in a 70-67 win over Skidmore in the conference championship.

The former Etiwanda High School standout, who is a nine-time Guard of the Week selection in 2009-10, is averaging a Liberty League-best 17.7 points per game. The Liberty League Player of the Year and a unanimous All-League First Team selection is second in the league in rebounding with 9.4 boards per contest. A captain, she has 12 double-doubles on the season, including one in each of her last four contests and also leads the squad in assists (107) and steals (62), while adding 29 blocks in 33.6 minutes per game.

LeRose, a freshman from Williamsburg, Va., had an outstanding effort at the UNYSCSA Championships, finishing seventh or higher in all seven events he competed. Individually, he was fourth in the 200-fly (1:57.55), fifth in the 100-fly (52.27) and sixth in the 200-IM (1:58.12). He also helped the 400-free relay to fourth in a school record time of 3:08.13 and competed on three other relay squads. As a team, RPI was fifth overall and second among Liberty League teams in the 16 team meet.

A graduate of Lafayette High School, LeRose is a six-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week and the conference's Rookie of the Year. He was also named the league's Swimmer of the Week on February 8. Among the highlights to his rookie season was a five-victory effort at the Liberty League Championships.

The women's basketball team (17-10; 10-4 Liberty League) will play the University of Southern Maine in the first round of the 2010 Division III Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday at 4pm. The Engineers are one of three teams traveling to Amherst College (27-0), the top-ranked team in the nation, who will host the games on Friday and Saturday. In addition to Southern Maine, which is 20-9, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (18-9) rounds out the field. Friday's contest will air live courtesy of 91.5 FM, WRPI, and online at www.wrpi.org and will feature live stats at http://www3.amherst.edu/~sports/tas/xlive.htm. The men's swimming & diving team (3-4 dual meet record) wrapped up their regular season at last week's State Meet.