POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (January 11, 2016) – The Vassar College women's basketball team (2-8, 0-2 Liberty League) will look to snap its three-game losing streak Tuesday evening, hosting the Engineers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Liberty League action from the Athletics and Fitness Center. Vassar is coming off a pair of losses this past weekend, falling to St. Lawrence University 59-56 and Clarkson University 67-61.

Game Details
Opponent: vs. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (5-8, 1-3 Liberty League)
Links:
(Vassar's Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
(RPI's Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Athletics and Fitness Center
Date: January 12, 2016
Time: 6 p.m.
Coverage: (Live Stats) - (Live Video)
 
What To Look For
The Brewers return home for the first time since November 24, a span of 47 days between home contests for Vassar College. Vassar has been in most of its games this season, but hasn't been able to build leads during solid offensive stretches and also is having troubles closing out games. In Vassar's last four losses, all on the road, the Brewers have dropped games by a combined 18 points, falling by three twice and six points twice. Earlier in the year, Vassar fell by five to Haverford and four to SUNY Geneseo. If the Brewers can get over that hump and start to close out contests, they could start to rattle off some wins with some of the most important of games still to be played.
 
A Look At The Engineers (5-8, 1-3 Liberty League)
Rensselaer comes into Tuesday night's game with the Brewers having dropped its last two games, while falling in three of its last four. The Engineers battled Rochester Institute of Technology into overtime on Saturday afternoon, but fell 89-81 despite getting 20 points and four blocks from sophomore Shaina Iton. In that game, RPI had six players in double figures, but made just nine of 31 attempts from three-point land. The Engineers feature the league's second-highest scoring offense thus far this season, averaging 68.8 points per game, while outscoring teams on average by 3.5 points per game. RPI enjoys shooting the ball from distance, having made a league-high 82 three-pointers this season, connecting on 6.3 per game. The Engineers play mostly a 4-1 offense, playing four guards during long stretches. That size disadvantage has hurt RPI at times, as the Engineers are the league's lowest rebounding margin squad.
 
Senior Ashley Clough has a team-best 12.2 points per game through 13 games this season, also pulling down 4.9 rebounds as well. Clough has connected on 24 three-point field goals as well, which ranks second on the team. Sam Krumbhaar has come off the bench in 11 games this season, averaging 12.1 points per contest, while Elizabeth Eckhardt leads the team with 26 three-pointers along with her 10.9 points per game average. LaKissa Martin has started eight of 13 games for the Engineers, and is posting 9.1 points in just 18.4 minutes per game, while Iton leads the squad with 7.2 rebounds and 26 blocks this season. In addition, Iton is shooting a team-leading 51.1 percent from the floor en route to her 8.2 points nightly. Head coach John Greene has led the Engineers over the last 15 seasons, posting a 206-170 record in his tenure.
 
Against RPI All-Time
The Engineers and Brewers rivalry goes back a long way, as RPI holds a 26-12 all-time lead with Vassar dating back to 1988. VC has won six of its last seven games against the Engineers, including last year's season finale in Poughkeepsie, 69-51.
 
Moving On Up
Sophomore Ariella Rosenthal (Mill Valley, VA/Redwood) has slowly and surely risen up the Liberty League scoring list, as she now sits sixth in the conference in scoring with 14.3 points per game.
 
Block Queen
Senior Rose Serafini (Milton, ON/Milton District) currently leads the Liberty League in blocks with 35, and is just 20 shy of breaking the all-time career record for blocks at Vassar.
 
Lending A Hand
Senior point guard Alex Moon (Mission Hills, CA/Bishop Alemany) comes into the game third in the Liberty League in assists per game with 3.8. Moon posted a career-high eight helpers Saturday against Clarkson.
 
No Whistles
The Brewers have only gone to the free throw line 136 times this season, which are 13.6 attempts per game. That is the fewest attempts per game in the conference, and VC's 92 made freebies is also the lowest number in the league.
 
Too Many Triples
This season, Vassar has allowed teams to shoot 33.3 percent from downtown, which is the highest three-point percentage defense clip in the Liberty League. In contrast, VC is shooting 26.8 percent from three-land, seventh-best in the conference.
 
Climbing The Ladder
Vassar senior guard Caitlin Drakeley (Woodbury, CT/Nonnewaug) is currently ninth all-time in points at VC with 1123. Drakeley is on pace to finish her career in sixth place, passing Hannah Senftleber (1239), Lisa Ercolano (1244) and Erin Haeuser (1244) along the way.
 
Inside-Outside
Senior Colleen O'Connell (Maywood, NJ/Immaculate Heart Academy) has shown this season that she can step out and stick the three-point shot. O'Connell came into the season with just 14 made threes in her career, but has already made eight this campaign and is shooting 57.1 percent from behind the arc.
 
More O
So far this season, the Brewers have scored 60 or more points in just five of the 10 games, with a season-high 66 points coming in a win over Salem State.

Winter Thal
Ariella Rosenthal had her best game of the season offensively Saturday at Clarkson, posting a seasonal team-high of 24 points. Rosenthal has averaged 20.0 points per game against CU in the three career games against the Golden Knights.
 
Up Next
Vassar continues Liberty League action this weekend with a pair of home conference games, hosting Skidmore College Friday (6 p.m.) and Union College Saturday (2 p.m.) in the AFC.