WSU women pay visit to UW

The University of Washington women's basketball program is all set for Seattle's biggest sports weekend of the year and Sunday's nationally televised game.

Huskies senior guard Kayla Burt's presentation with the 2005 V Foundation Comeback Award will highlight a full schedule of events surrounding the Huskies' 1 p.m. game against cross-state rival Washington State at Edmundson Pavilion on Super Bowl Sunday.

Burt, 23, returned to the court last season following a year-and-a-half hiatus from basketball after suffering cardiac arrest on Dec. 31, 2002. She went on to play in all 29 games of the 2004-05 season, starting 16, and led the Huskies with 9.6 points per game.

Her comeback was cut short 15 games into the current season, when her internal heart defibrillator fired to stop a cardiac arrhythmia during UW's Jan. 12 game against UCLA at Edmundson. She announced her retirement from collegiate competition four days later, but remains as a student assistant.

The award will be presented by V Foundation CEO Nick Valvano, the older brother of the late college coach and ESPN commentator Jim Valvano. The foundation and award were established following his battle with cancer, and the award is presented each year to a college men's or women's basketball player or team that has overcome adversity.

Seattle Pacific senior center Brittany Kroon was also a finalist for the award. Kroon joined the Falcons' program following a liver transplant she received just a week after playing in the 2002 Alaska Class 4A championship.

Game rescheduled

The WSU-UW women's game was originally scheduled to be played today. With an opportunity to have the game televised nationally on FSN, the Huskies agreed last fall to move it to Sunday.

The Huskies claimed a 73-70 victory in Pullman Jan. 7.

Auction, alumnae

The doors open early for Sunday's schedule, which begins with the program's annual auction at 10 a.m. and includes a Huskies alumnae game at 10:30 a.m.

Items up for bid in the auction include two seats to any Huskies sporting event on the West Coast aboard a Citation Excel jet; Mariners box seats; VIP Seattle Storm tickets; and autographed jerseys from the Storm's Sue Bird, UW men's standout Brandon Roy and many UW women's players.

The auction, with more than 300 items in all, will take place at the North Court, and bidding will remain open through the end of halftime.