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Former Penguin plagues YSU
By STEVE WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
It has been nearly three years since Sha’Rae Davis last played at Beeghly Center, but there was plenty of nostalgia in the building in her return on Saturday as part of Northern Kentucky’s 88-77 win against Youngstown State.
Davis — who started at point guard as a freshman for YSU in 2012-13 before leaving the program amidst a messy situation — heard familiar cheers when she entered the game for the Norse midway through the first quarter.
She was also greeted by former teammates in the crowd and received a particularly generous bounce on one of her two 3-pointers. Most of all, though, she turned back time and accomplished what she often did in her one season with the Penguins: earned a victory at YSU while posting a strong individual performance.
“It was a little more emotional than I thought it would be, just because I saw a couple of old fans,” said Davis, who scored 16 points in 17 minutes off the bench. “It was nice to know I still have a little bit of a fanbase here. So it was pretty cool.”
Davis, a redshirt junior, entered averaging just five points per game for the Norse. However, the 5-foot-8 guard scored 12 first-half points and shot 6 of 8 from the field in notching her best game of the season.
“I thought Sha’Rae came off the bench and really gave us a boost,” NKU head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. “She did a really good job taking care of the ball, attacking the rim and making good decisions.”
Said Davis: “It feels really good because Youngstown State is a very good team. They just beat Wright State. So especially beating them at home, it’s a very, very great thing.”
She didn’t mention it specifically, but her two celebratory yelps at midcourt after the final buzzer indicated it was sweet revenge for Davis.
She started all 33 games for YSU in 2012-13, averaging 9.6 points while being named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team. The Penguins went 23-12 and reached the second round of the WNIT that season — the last for former head coach Bob Boldon.
With the arrival of current YSU coach John Barnes prior to the 2013-14 season, Davis battled ulcerative colitis, which forced her to withdraw from school and miss the entire campaign. Still, she planned to return to the Penguins for the 2014-15 season.
However, she was released from her scholarship by Barnes in April 2014 for violating NCAA rules. She visited YSU’s team hotel prior to the Penguins’ matchup at Oakland in February 2014 and stayed the night, which was a violation since she wasn’t an official member of the team.
In turn, she wound up at NKU last season, averaging six points in 29 games. The Norse then joined the Horizon League prior to this season — setting up Saturday’s matchup.
With the Penguins rallying and cutting NKU’s lead to 81-75 late in the fourth quarter, Davis connected on a short jumper with 1:31 remaining. She then drained two free throws with just 1:04 left to ice the contest.
“She’s a very good player,” said Barnes, although Davis refused to shake his hand after the contest. “She was a good player when she was here, she’s a good player there. She can start for a lot of teams.”
Not by coincidence, six of Davis’ former teammates from the 2012-13 YSU team were in the stands: Brandi Brown, Karen Flagg, Taylor Hvisdak, Amanda Barger, Latisha Walker and Ashley Lawson. She met and posed for pictures with them after the game.
Davis also shared a couple moments on the court with Penguins redshirt junior Kelsea Newman. The two were part of the same YSU recruiting class under Boldon. The former teammates exchanged smiles after trading buckets on back-to-back possessions in the first half.
“It was like a little reunion we had here,” Davis said. “It was cool to see everyone come back.”