The William Smith basketball team will open the 2010-11 season at Ithaca tonight at 7 o'clock. The Herons return eight veterans from last season, including three all-conference selections, and welcome four first-years.

Tonight's game will be broadcast live on WHWS-FM (105.7). Fans can also follow the action with Live Stats on the Ithaca website.

Seniors Ashlinn Barber and Mollie Danahy and junior Kristen Kush represented William Smith on the All-Liberty League teams last year. The Herons are one of only two teams to welcome back more than one all-conference selection, and the only team in the league to boast three.

Barber was second on the team and ninth in the Liberty League in scoring last season, averaging 12.6 per game. She also led the conference in rebounding, pulling down 9.8 per night, the highest average by a Heron since 1996-97. Barber's efforts were rewarded with selection to the D3hoops.com All-East second team.

Kush led William Smith in scoring (8th in the league) at 13.1 ppg thanks to the conference's fifth highest field goal percentage (.455). She ended the season with nine straight double digit performances, including a 27-point effort on 10-of-14 shooting against Clarkson.

Danahy chipped in 10.1 ppg, while leading the Liberty League and ranking 21st in the nation in steals (3.8 spg). She was also third in the conference in assists per game (3.8). A whirling dervish on the court, Danahy enters her senior season with 199 steals, eighth on the Heron career list. An average season would vault her into the top five all-time.

Senior Colleen Lukas is the team's fourth returning starter. She posted 6.8 ppg and 3.2 rpg in her first year as a starter.

Head Coach Lindsay Drury (85-49, five seasons) also returns sophomore guards Jaimie Rubin (4.3 ppg, 2.4 apg), Sydni Salvatore (4.7 ppg), and Sarah O'Brien (1.0 ppg). All three average at least 10 minutes per game and made significant progress throughout their rookie campaigns as well as during the off season.

In January, the Herons will have one more veteran presence on the bench. Junior Chelsea Tracey is participating in a study abroad program for the fall semester.

The William Smith line up will be further bolstered by the Class of 2014, Erin O'Brien (Sarah's sister), Jacqueline Murphy, Liz Douglass, and Sasha Borenstein.

William Smith will play some of the top teams in the region before diving into the Liberty League schedule in January. In addition to the Bombers, the Herons have dates with Rochester, Cortland, and Medaille, not to mention a return to the Wendy's Classic, the nation's longest running Division III basketball tournament. William Smith will be well tested by the time it begins its quest to earn a spot in the Liberty League's four-team tournament.