The William Smith College basketball team will open Liberty League play on the road this weekend. The Herons will visit Rensselaer at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3 followed by a 2 p.m. tipoff at Vassar on Saturday, Dec. 4.
 
Due to campus COVID policies, no outside spectators are allowed at Rensselaer's ECAV Arena. Fans can follow the game with live video and statistics on rpiathletics.com.
 
Spectators will be allowed at the Vassar Athletic and Fitness Center, but must comply with campus COVID policies. External spectators (non-Vassar students/employees) age 12 or older must be fully vaccinated or have a negative PCR COVID test taken within three days of the event or a negative rapid antigen test the day of the event. External spectators are required to provide proof of vaccination or a copy of a negative test to enter the Athletic and Fitness Center. All spectators, including children of kindergarten age and older and regardless of vaccination status, will be required to wear masks indoors at all times.
 
Live video and stats can be viewed on vassarathletics.com.
 
William Smith enters the weekend with a 1-2 overall record. The Herons opened the season with a dominant win over Keuka, but head east looking to halt a two-game slide.
 
The frontcourt trio of Olivia Parisi, Lauren DeVaney and Brooke Jarvis have led William Smith so far this year. Parisi and DeVaney are both averaging double-doubles with the former producing 16.7 ppg and 11.0 rpg and the latter adding 14.0 ppg and 11.0 rpg. Jarvis is the league's scoring leader at 20.3 ppg and also contributes 9.3 rpg and a team-high 2.3 spg.
 
Rensselaer is also 1-2 following a 91-27 win over SUNY Delhi on Tuesday. Lolo Reynolds leads three Engineers in double digits, scoring 12.7 per game. Heather Converse adds a double-double with 10.7 ppg and a team-leading 13.3 rpg.
 
This will be the 71st meeting between the Herons and Engineers with William Smith leading the series 44-26. The past three games, which have all fallen in RPI's favor, have been decided by an average of 4.3 points.
 
Vassar will host Ithaca on Friday night. The Brewers (0-5) enter the weekend seeking their first win, having faced a challenging slate of non-conference opponents that included No. 16 Tufts and No. 24 NYU as well as Smith and Springfield, which are both receiving votes in this week's poll. Dani Douglas leads three Brewers in double figures, averaging 13.2 ppg.
 
Saturday's game will be the 47th between William Smith and Vassar with the Herons leading the series 36-10. However, the Brewers swept the home and home series in 2019-20, prevailing 74-62 in Poughkeepsie, New York.