Rock guard gets new heart, fresh start at playing
By Josh Rizzo
Rocket Sports Editor
Issue date: 1/16/09 Section: Sports
After making the roster before the start of the 2007-2008 school year, Busser was fourth in line to play point guard.
But a few weeks into the season, things changed dramatically for the women's basketball team.
Junior Chere' Marshall, senior Kara Spagnola and sophomore Nikki Presto were all injured.
Busser was now the Rock's starting point guard.
Heilman said playing point guard at the Division II level is not an easy task.
"Being a point guard, you have to run the show," Heilman said. "You have to keep the offense under control and organized. Even though Busser was new, she was more than willing to do whatever it takes to win basketball games."
One of Busser's teammates, 20-year-old sport management major Julie Molloy, said there is a lot of pressure that comes with being a student athlete.
"Coach [Heilman] is adamant we maintain a 3.0," Molloy said. "But last year when Sandra came here she didn't seem nervous or struggle with the adjustment."
The Rock women's basketball team finished 7-20.
Injuries and a tough conference schedule doomed the team to a rough finish to the season.
Even with the tough finish, Busser was excited to start 2008 fresh.
But her plan to return was hindered by an unexpected occurrence.
Busser said her heart problems started in late June 2008.
"A couple weeks before I went to the hospital, I was waking up in sweats and my chest hurt," Busser said. "Then I went to my mom and told her I felt like I was dying. So we went to the hospital on July 13 to see if anything was wrong."
After arriving at the hospital on the 13th, Busser said she had blood work done, but the doctors didn't find anything wrong.
The hospital decided to keep her overnight and she fell asleep around midnight.
Despite not having any history of heart problems, Busser said things went wrong after she fell asleep.
"After being asleep for a half hour, someone woke me up, my heart rate had dropped to 35," Busser said.
But a few weeks into the season, things changed dramatically for the women's basketball team.
Junior Chere' Marshall, senior Kara Spagnola and sophomore Nikki Presto were all injured.
Busser was now the Rock's starting point guard.
Heilman said playing point guard at the Division II level is not an easy task.
"Being a point guard, you have to run the show," Heilman said. "You have to keep the offense under control and organized. Even though Busser was new, she was more than willing to do whatever it takes to win basketball games."
One of Busser's teammates, 20-year-old sport management major Julie Molloy, said there is a lot of pressure that comes with being a student athlete.
"Coach [Heilman] is adamant we maintain a 3.0," Molloy said. "But last year when Sandra came here she didn't seem nervous or struggle with the adjustment."
The Rock women's basketball team finished 7-20.
Injuries and a tough conference schedule doomed the team to a rough finish to the season.
Even with the tough finish, Busser was excited to start 2008 fresh.
But her plan to return was hindered by an unexpected occurrence.
Busser said her heart problems started in late June 2008.
"A couple weeks before I went to the hospital, I was waking up in sweats and my chest hurt," Busser said. "Then I went to my mom and told her I felt like I was dying. So we went to the hospital on July 13 to see if anything was wrong."
After arriving at the hospital on the 13th, Busser said she had blood work done, but the doctors didn't find anything wrong.
The hospital decided to keep her overnight and she fell asleep around midnight.
Despite not having any history of heart problems, Busser said things went wrong after she fell asleep.
"After being asleep for a half hour, someone woke me up, my heart rate had dropped to 35," Busser said.
Be the first to comment on this story