Davis Uniquely Making a Name for Herself

Minnesota State senior guard
Aubrey Davis (left) spent time in Tanzania
last summer as part of her academic
program

Suffice it to say Minnesota State women’s basketball guard Aubrey Davis has made quite the impact during her time with the Mavericks, both in the record books and also off the court.

In her first season, Davis quickly made her presence known, as she earned 2011-12 Northern Sun All-Freshman Team honors. Her sophomore year she continued this trend, as she was rewarded with 2012-13 NSIC Second Team honors. As a senior in 2014-15 year, her final year, Davis is showing that veteran leadership through her actions on and off the court.

The Bloomington, Minn., native is leading the Mavericks in points per game (13.7), assists per game (4.6) and steals per game (1.8). Davis is also not only leading the Purple and Gold in three-point field goal percentage, but the NSIC as well, shooting 44% (50-113). To add on to that, Davis currently ranks second in assists per game and sixth in steals per game in the conference.

“Aubrey does so much for our team both in her leadership and in her ability to make plays,” mentions MSU women’s basketball coach Emilee Thiesse. “She has an uncanny ability to set-up her teammates, create offense for herself, control the pace and the flow of the game, and bring a great defensive presence to the court.”

Off the court, Davis is double majoring in exercise science and psychology, to hope one day aspire to become an occupational therapist. This past offseason, Davis took a trip to the third world country of Tanzania to work in some clinics. While she was there, she would help the patrons with their medical needs and in the end it helped her gain real world experience in the field.

She heard about the opportunity through an old teammate of hers here at MSU in Ali Hoefer, who a couple of years ago took a trip to Ghana and gained a similar experience. The program they worked for is called “Work the World”, where it provides internships for a variety of medical fields, such as occupational therapy, dentistry, radiology, etc.

Overall it was a whirlwind experience for Davis, where at one point she had to help deliver a baby. She mentions it was one of the crazier things she had to do in Tanzania and while spending time in East Africa last summer, it has completely changed the soon to be graduate’s perspective on everything. “It really showed that I can’t take anything for granted and it really changed my work ethic in both basketball and in life,” Davis states.

That work ethic over her career is sure paying off in Davis’ final season. Aubrey became the 20th member in Minnesota State women's basketball history to reach the 1,000 point milestone.

Aubrey has also crept her way into the top ten lists of a couple of other categories at Minnesota State, currently ranking fourth in career three-pointers made (177), sixth in career assists (379) and fifth in career free-throws made (317).

A unique package, Davis is the only player in the history of the Minnesota State women's basketball program to have scored at least 1,000 points, dish out at least 375 assists, make at least 175 three-pointers and 300 free throws.

Davis plans on attending graduate school following her four years as a Maverick, at a school to be determined while studying occupational therapy.

In the meantime, she and the rest of her Maverick teammates have some unfinished business and that’s the postseason. MSU is hoping to make it to the NCAA tournament this year, which would mark the third time out of the last four years the team went dancing. So the career numbers for Davis will only keep on increasing as the MSU women’s basketball team is not done yet, with the NSIC tournament near the horizon and a berth to NCAA Division II tournament looming. 

Contributed by Alex Brendel, Athletic Communications graduate assistant