TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team finished the regular season in fourth place in the Liberty League standings and earned the right to host fifth-seeded William Smith College in a first round playoff game on Tuesday at 7pm at East Campus Arena. RPI enters the contest with a 16-9 overall record and a 12-6 league mark, while the Herons are 14-11 and 10-8.

The Engineers, who last played in the post-season in 2011-12, have won four straight games, including one over William Smith. The two teams met in Troy on February 14 with RPI winning 68-66 at the buzzer. They also played on January 18 in Geneva with Rensselaer prevailing 68-63.

Senior captains Sam Krumbhaar, Ines Ortea and Celia Tomlinson lead the Engineers, who average 67.8 points per game while allowing 64.5. All three student-athletes average in double figures in scoring and one of them leads in nearly every statistical category. 

Tomlinson (South Kingstown, RI / South Kingstown), a forward, is first in scoring with 15.1 points per game, rebounding with 11.5 per contests and blocks with 58. She also has 56 assists, which is second, and 21 steals. She has made 44.3 percent of her field goal attempts (135 of 305) and 75.8 percent (100 of 132) of her free throws. Tomlinson, who has 15 double-doubles, averages 30.6 minutes per game.

A guard, Krumbhaar (Glen Burnie, MD / North County) averages 15.0 points in a team-high 31.8 minutes. She is first on the Engineers in assists with 59 and steals with 57 while averaging 4.2 rebounds per game. The team leader in free throw percentage (87.3%), Krumbhaar has scored at least 24 points in four of the last five games, including a season-high 26 in the last meeting with William Smith during which she scored on a baseline jumper as time expired for the win. She is sixth in school history for career points with 1216.

Ortea (Madrid, Spain / Fillmore Central), also a guard, averages 11.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in 28.5 minutes. She has 53 assists and 50 steals with eight blocks. She has scored in double figures in each of the last four games with season-highs of 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, along with four assists and three steals, in a Senior Day win over RIT on February 15.

William Smith, which also averages 67.8 points per game, while giving up 62.8, has four double-digit scorers, led by Olivia Parisi's 15.6 points per game. The sophomore forward also paces the squad in rebounding with 8.6 per game. Stavriana Dimitrakopoulou, a junior guard, is second in scoring average (13.3) and rebounding (7.4). Emma Gallagher, a senior guard, is the team leader in assists (59) and steals (31).

The winner of the game between the Herons and the Engineers faces Ithaca College (20-5; 16-2), the top seed, on Saturday afternoon at Ithaca.