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GAMEDAY (Dec. 30, 2016): The Engineers (5-4) begin the unofficial second half of their season with their first Liberty League contest of the year, hosting undefeated RIT (7-0).

BREAKDOWN: Rensselaer is 3-1 at home with all four games being played on weeknights ... RPI is 1-1 in true road games and 1-2 in contests played on neutral courts.

BOUNCE BACK: Rensselaer snapped a three-game losing streak with a 50-47 win over Middlebury on December 1 before closing out the fall semester with a 51-47 win at Utica.

MOST RECENTLY: Ines Ortea scored a team-high 14 points and RPI posted a 51-47 victory over Utica ... The game was tied at 45-45 with 2:37 remaining but RPI went on to make six of eight free throw attempts down the stretch to clinch the victory ... Three of the made shots came from senior Lauren Young ... Ortea added six rebounds to go along with three steals, while Elizabeth Eckhardt tallied nine points and three steals ... Julianna O'Neill grabbed eight rebounds and scored six points and Young totaled seven points, seven assists and six rebounds ... Shaina Iton had eight rebounds, scored four points and blocked two shots.

HONORED: Freshman guard Ines Ortea was named the Liberty League Rookie of the Week following a 51-47 win at Utica ... She led the Engineers with 14 points on 5 of 11 shooting from the floor and 4 of 8 from the free throw line, along with six rebounds, including four offensive, and three steals in 27 minutes ... She helped force 23 turnovers.

TWO STRAIGHT: Ines Ortea, a freshman guard, has been the Liberty League Rookie of the Week for two weeks in a row.

ALL-TIME AGAINST RIT: The Engineers and Tigers have played 26 times with RPI holding a 16-10 advantage ... Rensselaer won each of the first 10 meetings, played between 1988-93 ... RIT has won six of the last seven contests, including both last season (89-81 in Troy & 68-64 in Rochester).

ALL-TIME AT HOME: RPI is 9-5 at home against the Tigers ... The teams are 4-4 in the last eight.

IN LEAGUE: Rensselaer and RIT have met 26 times as league foes with the Engineers posting 15 wins.

RIT TO DATE: The Tigers, who are 7-0, won two tournaments during the fall semester ... They beat Occidental (60-58) and Whittier (91-47) in the Occidental Tournament in California in November and then beat Nazareth (68-52) and St. John Fisher (82-80 OT) in the Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Classic in Pittsford in December.