Freshman guard Lashay Davis said she wasn’t immune to early-season jitters.

But if her recent play is any indication, those nerves may be behind her for good.

Davis led Western with 16 points in a 71-46 home win over North Dakota on Wednesday and said she is finding herself more at ease in both practice and game situations.

“I’m getting used to it more,” Davis said. “With the team we have, everyone plays together and it’s fun, so it just helps me relax a lot.”

Davis has led the Lady Toppers (4-2) in scoring for two straight games off the bench, scoring 19 points in the team’s 69-51 loss to Arkansas last Friday in Cancun, Mexico.

Head Coach Mary Taylor Cowles said Davis, who is tied for second on the team in scoring with 9.2 points per game, has made great strides in terms of self-confidence.

“She finally understands that, ‘If I run the play wrong or I make the wrong pass, coach Cowles isn’t going to pull me every single time,’” Cowles said. “She’s simply starting to let her guard down a little bit as far as just relaxing and playing basketball.”

Davis said the veteran Lady Toppers have had a positive impact on her.

“All of the leadership on our team—it just makes it easy to adjust,” Davis said. “They’re really, really good at letting us adjust and helping us out, and the staff is just really willing to let us play to our potential and get experience.”

Senior forward Arnika Brown said she has been impressed by the play of Davis and fellow freshman guard Courtney Clifton.

“I applaud them, coming in as freshmen and basically getting thrown out there like, ‘Here you go,’” Brown said. “They have helped out so much. Coming from a post point and me getting doubled and possibly triple-teamed as the season goes on, it helps to pivot and kick it out to a guard that I know can hit a shot.”

Davis is currently tied for first on the team in steals with eight and is second with 11 assists.

Cowles said at the team’s media day last month that Davis has an undeniable competitive streak.

“(She) hates to lose,” Cowles said. “You could be playing tiddlywinks with her, and she’s going to try to beat you and beat you as bad as she can. I really like that kind of mentality, and I think that goes along with being a point guard also.”

Brown said she understands that Davis might deal with early-season nervousness but said as long as Davis is seeing success on the court, there is only one thing the freshman can do.

“You just have to accept it,” Brown said. “You don’t have a choice. You have an opportunity to jump on it while you can, and you just never know what position you’re going to be put in.

“(Davis and Clifton) are succeeding right now, and I hope it continues to go on for the rest of the season.”