POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 4, 2016) — The Vassar College women's basketball team (6-13, 3-7 Liberty League) will wrap up its five-game homestead this weekend. The Brewers will face the William Smith College Herons on Friday at 6 p.m. before playing the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Athletics and Fitness Center.

Game Details
Opponent: vs. William Smith College (8-10, 6-4 Liberty League)
Links:
(Vassar's Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
(William Smith Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Athletics and Fitness Center
Date: February 5, 2016
Time: 6 p.m. Friday
Coverage: (Live Stats)(Live Video)

Game Details
Opponent: vs. Rochester Institute of Technology (15-4, 8-2 Liberty League)
Links:
(Vassar's Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
(William Smith Women's Basketball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Athletics and Fitness Center
Date: February 6, 2016
Time: 2 p.m. Saturday
Coverage: (Live Stats)(Live Video)

What To Look For
The Brewers will go for their third straight win against the William Smith Herons this weekend after beating St. Lawrence University, 76-60, on Jan. 30 and Mount Saint Mary College (NY), 64-49, on Tuesday. Most recently, the Brewers led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, but the Knights wouldn't go away, trimming the deficit to three with an 11-0 run early in the fourth. After the scare, the two traded baskets before Vassar scored the final nine points. Ariella Rosenthal (Mill Valley, CA/Redwood) led the Brewers with 19 points to go with her five rebounds and four assists, while Nicole Teta (Maspeth, NY/Archbishop Molloy) finished with 13 points to go with six assists, five rebounds and three steals. The Herons will also be going for their third straight win on Friday.

A Look At The William Smith Herons (8-10, 6-4 Liberty)
The Herons have won four of their past five games, most recently beating Skidmore College, 72-64, on Jan. 29 and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 61-58, on Jan. 30. In their win against the Engineers, Kendra Quinn-Moultrie scored a career-high 19 points to go with her game-high four steals. Gabrille Eure added her eighth double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds), Mia Morrison chipped in with 11 points and Melanie Patterson had nine points with a team-high four assists. RPI briefly took the lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Herons went on an 8-1 run, as they reclaimed the lead for good.

The Herons are second to last in the conference with their 26.9 percent 3-point percentage and are last in allowing 32.8 percent of their opponents threes to count. William Smith has been aggressive on defense, grabbing a conference-leading 45.7 boards per game, while having the highest rebounding margin of 8.3. Leading the rebounding effort are Eure and (2^ndin the League, 10.2 per contest) and Morrison (6^th, 7.9). Morrison is also fifth in the conference with 1.1 blocks per game.

Against William Smith All-Time
Vassar is 5-31 versus William Smith, dating back to their first meeting in 1996. The Brewers split the 2014-15 season with the Herons after most recently beating them, 53-43, on Feb. 14. Caitlin Drakeley (Woodbury, CT/Nonnewaug) scored a game-high 17 points to go with her game-high five assists in the contest.

A Look At The RIT Tigers (15-4, 8-2 Liberty)
The Tigers will face Bard College on Friday before heading to Poughkeepsie. Going into Annandale-On-Hudson, they'll be looking for their sixth straight win after capturing victories over William Smith, Vassar, Bard, RPI and most recently Skidmore. Their victory against the Thoroughbreds tied the program record for wins in a season at 15. In the game, RIT shot 52 percent from the floor with 10 threes. Jessica Glaz and Tara Lynch led the Tigers with 23 points apiece, Julia Bender added 10 points and 10 rebounds, Kara Birrell finished with 12 points off the bench and Maria Edwards dished out a program-record 11 assists.

RIT leads the Liberty League with 72.5 points per game, but holds its opponents to 65.4 points per game, which is good for eighth of nine teams. Part of the reason the Tigers have enjoyed such high-scoring games is because of their 41.9 field goal percentage, which is second only behind Union College (44 percent). The Tigers are also second behind Union in 3-point percentage at 33 percent, while making a league-leading 6.7 triples per contest. RIT has the second-best rebounding margin, below William Smith and ahead of Vassar, at 4.6. The Tigers are second in the conference with 15.63 assists per game.
Edwards is third in the conference with her 4.1 rebounds per game and second with her 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. Lynch and Glaz are first and third in the conference, making 53.1 and 45.9 percent of their shots, respectively. Glaz is also first in free-throw percentage (84.3) and three-point percentage (37.6).

Against RIT All-Time
Vassar has won every meeting against RIT since their first game in 2012. Most recently, the Brewers beat the Tigers, 60-49, on Feb. 13, 2015. Drakeley led the Brewers with a game-high 23 points to go wither her seven rebounds and three assists.

Line 'Em Up
Vassar has been consistent from the foul line, making 70.3 percent of its shots, only behind St. Lawrence (73.1 percent). The Brewers' opponents have also shot well from the line, hitting 70.1 percent, which is good for second-best in the League.

Not Bored With Boards
The Brewers have been aggressive on the class, grabbing 42.8 rebounds per contest only behind the Herons (45.7). They also have the third best rebounding margin at 4.4.

Take Care
The Brewers have taken great care of the ball, having the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference at .92. Only St. Lawrence (1.03) and RIT (1.02) are ahead of them.

Sharing Is Caring
The Brewers have been generous with the ball, averaging 14.89 assists per contest, only behind St. Lawrence (16.74) and RIT (15.63).

Stuffed
Vassar has shown excellent anticipation, as it leads the conference with 4.47 blocks per game. The next-leading team is RPI, which averages 4.17 blocks per contest.

Terrific Teta
Nicole Teta has dazzled in the past four games to average 15 points in that span for the Brewers. In the first of those four games on Jan. 26 against Bard, Teta poured in a game- and career-high 23 points with four triples in 22 minutes off the bench. That 23-point effort more than doubled her previous best of 11. The guard followed up her stellar performance by dropping 11 points on Clarkson, 13 on St. Lawrence, and most recently, 13 on Mount Saint Mary.

Dynamic Duo
Vassar boasts two scorers within the Top 10 in the Liberty League. Ariella Rosenthal (15.1 points per game) and Caitlin Drakeley (12.3) rank eighth and 10th, respectively. Rosenthal is also sixth in the conference, shooting 40.8 percent from the floor.

Anchor
Rose Serafini (Milton, ON, Can/Milton District) has been holding down the Brewers defensively. The senior ranks first in the Liberty League with 3.1 blocks and seventh with 7.7 rebounds per game. The next leading shot blocker is RPI's Shaina Iton, who averages two per contest.

Shot Swatter
Rose Serafini recently made school history Jan. 30 during Vassar's victory over St. Lawrence. The senior became the Vassar College women's basketball team's all-time shot block leader, as her third swat of the day gave her 168 for her career. That eclipsed the 167 that Emily Haueser tallied in her career.

Need A Hand?
Vassar has dished out more assists than its opponents in five of the past six games. In those five games, the Brewers out-assisted their opponents by a margin of 87-61.

So Close
The Brewers have kept many of their competitions close this season, losing 11 games by seven points or less.

Scoring 70
Vassar has won all three times it has scored at least 70 points, most recently beating St. Lawrence 76-60 on Jan. 30.

Up Next
The Vassar women's basketball team will hit the road for two games. The first will be Friday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. against Union College in Schenectady, NY, and the second will take place Saturday, February 13 at 2 p.m. against Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.