Although the women’s basketball team’s game Friday technically did not count for anything, for redshirt sophomore point guard Rishonda Napier, it was huge.

Gastritis cut Napier’s sophomore season short after only five games last year. Friday’s preseason tune-up against Division II Quincy University was her first game action in almost a year.

Napier’s teammates welcomed her back to the court.

“I just want to give a shout-out to my teammates who were always in my ear telling me they were happy to see me back, telling me I don’t have to be nervous and telling me to believe in myself,” Napier said. “It’s great to be back and playing with such great teammates.”

Napier was one of four SIU players to redshirt last year. The depleted Salukis finished 5-25.

Napier said being on the sideline challenged her mentally as she battled her physical ailments.

“The hardest part was just having to sit out and watch my teammates go out there and battle every day and knowing that I couldn’t be out there with them,” Napier said. “I’m glad it’s over and I’m looking forward now.”

Napier developed a case of chronic insomnia a few weeks before the start of the 2013-2014 season. Her insomnia led to several health problems – including the gastritis that limited Napier to five games last year. Gastritis is the inflammation of the lining of the stomach, which can be sudden or gradual.

The gastritis did not require surgery, but Napier could not keep food down and became too weak to play basketball.

Napier went home to her personal doctor in California, who prescribed her medication and placed her on a strict diet.

Napier drank lots of water to cleanse her system and got into a consistent sleeping pattern.

In an effort to maintain her sleep schedule, Napier stays away from sugary snacks, reads before bed and limits her use of “blue screens”—computers, cell phones and other such technology.

Harvard Medical School studies show blue light, which is emitted by electronics with screens, throws off the body’s circadian rhythm, which is what tells us when to go to sleep based on whether the sun is up or down.

Once she started sleeping regularly, her health problems disappeared.

Napier and her backcourt partner, junior Cartaesha Macklin, who also redshirted last year, bring an element of depth the Saluki roster lacked in their absence. Head coach Cindy Stein is glad to have them back.

“It’s absolutely outstanding,” Stein said. “You don’t want kids to fall behind. This is a really competitive group, so if they fall behind, it’s tough sometimes to come back.”

With both of SIU’s starting guards out for the vast majority of last season, walk-on sophomore Hannah Shores stepped up and led the team in assists.

Shores, now on a scholarship, is not fazed by Napier and Macklin’s return potentially cutting into her playing time.

“I think everybody’s playing their hardest right now, and coach will just have to decide when it comes that time,” Shores said.

Friday’s regular season opener at the University of Tennessee-Martin will be Napier’s first regular season game in 358 days. She and her teammates will attempt to put last season completely in the rearview mirror and make the 2014-2015 campaign a successful one.

Thomas can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @tdonleyde