UW Women's Basketball
Burt gets back in the game

By Bob Sherwin
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Kayla Burt woke up yesterday at 7:30 a.m. She was so anxious, but it was too early. So she went back to sleep for an hour before rushing off to join her Washington women's basketball teammates for breakfast. Over the next few hours she showed up at Edmundson Pavilion, had her ankles taped, shot around, then drove to a teammate's apartment to try playing Ping-Pong.

She just didn't know what to do with herself before playing her first official game since suffering a cardiac arrest 22 months ago. "I was just so antsy," she said.

But when the Huskies' exhibition game with Baden Sports finally started at 2 p.m., Burt went on to score a team-high 13 points in an 86-49 UW win.

Burt, who made the decision over the winter to return to the court after a two-year layoff, has a defibrillator to monitor her heart. It is sewn into her chest, just under the skin.

"I don't really think about that," she said. "Even this morning when I woke up I wasn't thinking about anything that has to do with my heart thing. I was thinking about coming out with intensity and doing the things I've been working on in practice."

This is a team in transition. Giuliana and Gioconda Mendiola, who so dominated the team's personality the past few years, are gone. Coach June Daugherty welcomes five freshmen and three other players who didn't play last season.

"We started two different lineups in each half and were able to mix it up a bit," she said. "We're looking for chemistry and who is playing well with each other."

The Huskies started slowly, but they finished the first half shooting 42.1 percent (16 of 38) and leading 42-27.

"I thought the second half we played harder," Daugherty said. "I liked the intensity from that second lineup we went with. One or maybe two players have secure starting spots after today. We'd like to have people step up and secure those spots."

Bob Sherwin: 206-464-8286 or bsherwin@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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