Defense Wins Awards
Apr 01 | Women's Basketball
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The reality came quickly for Syessence Davis. Growing up playing basketball against her older brother, who stands 6-3, and his friends, there was little she could do offensively against them. The size issue was just too much to overcome.
So she found another way another to compete with them -- and to earn their respect.
She used her quickness, and guile, and turned to defense.
The latest payoff for that early career decision for Rutgers' 5-7 senior point guard was the announcement today that the Neptune, N.J., native was named one of six finalists for the national Defensive Player of the Year Award by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
Davis, whose 105 steals this season helped the Scarlet Knights to a 23-10 campaign that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, had previously been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
"Growing up, my older brother (Syking) was always tall and lanky and it was annoying because we played against each other all the time and he was always so much longer than me," Davis said. "One step and he was at the rim. It really motivated me to figure out a way to stop him, especially because he likes to talk trash. He would tell me what he was about to do and then he'd do it because he was so long.
"So I had to figure out a way to stop that. I learned how to use my quickness on defense. If he tried now he'd have no chance to get past me."
Davis' defensive prowess resulted in a school-record 294 career steals, and she is the only player in Rutgers history with multiple 100-steal seasons. The national Defensive Player of the Year Award will be announced during the WBCA Awards show on April 6 in Tampa, Fla.
"It means a lot because it shows that people notice what you do," she said of being named a national defensive finalist. "A lot of times defensive players don't get a lot of recognition. It seems like it's always about offense. It's `Oh, this player scored 30, this team scored 100,' and no one really pays a lot of attention to the stoppers.
"I've always worked for something like this, but after my second or third year in college I stopped thinking about it because I had it in my mind that I wasn't going to get recognized for my defense. It just wasn't happening. Last year, when we were in the American, it went to Stefanie Dolson of UConn. I'm like `I can't compete against someone who is 6-5.' That's hard to do. So I stopped thinking about it and just went out and played my game."
Davis' "game" was good enough this season to earn Honorable Mention All-Big Ten recognition, as well as being named one of 15 finalists for the Nancy Liebermann Award that is presented annually to the nation's top point guard.
Davis finished fourth nationally and led the Big Ten in assist/turnover ratio at 3.18 and had nine games of five or more steals, highlighted by a career-best 10 against Penn State.
She is the program's third player to earn conference Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining current assistant Chelsea Newton, who earned the award in the Big East in 2005, and Essence Carson, named the Big East's top defensive player in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
"I've always had a good basketball IQ and I think what also helped me from a defensive standpoint was playing football with my brothers growing up," she said. "When you do that everything is on a swivel. That seemed to relate and convert to basketball."
-RU-
