Heather Burge
Encyclopedia
Heather Marie Quella (born November 11, 1971 in Fairfax, CA) is a former professional basketball
player and is the twin
sister of Heidi (Burge) Horton
.
. Although Burge was not originally interested in playing basketball, as she preferred theater and volleyball, after being asked to tryout by the ladies basketball coach her senior year, she quickly fell in love with the game. Burge also brought success to the team, transforming the Sea Kings into Southern Section 3-A champions in 1987 and concluding her high-school career atop the school's the all-time list of girls' scorers with 1,345 points. After graduation, both sisters accepted scholarships to attend the University of Virginia
and play for the Lady Cavaliers basketball team. Although the pair would attend the same school, they did not live together or even have the same circle of friends. The Burge's also did not play the same position on the court as Heidi preferred the outside game and Heather (who is 6 minutes older than Heidi) played inside, was the go-to scorer in the paint, and banged against the opposing team's center.
championships (in 1990, 1992 and 1993) and Women's NCAA Final Four appearances (1990-1992). Following the school year in 1989 and 1990, Burge was asked to play for USA Basketball
U18 and U19 basketball teams
and won a gold medal at the 1990 US Olympic Festival. Things did not always go smoothly for the Burges in their freshman and sophomore seasons as the pair were frequently in foul trouble, rarely played at the same time on the court (due to their foul situation), fought with teammates and each other, and were considered by their teammates to be both "soft" and prone to mistakes and turnovers.
However during their time with UVA, the pair averaged 24 points and seven rebounds per game and teamed with NCAA All-Americans Dawn Staley
and Tammi Reiss to lead the Cavaliers to three consecutive Final Fours and a 1991 overtime loss to Tennessee
in the championship game. In all three trips to the Final Four, the Cavaliers lost to the eventual NCAA Champion (losing to Stanford
in 1990 and 1992). Virginia's 1992 campaign ended with a school-record 32 wins (32-2, 15-1 in the ACC) and the team was ranked #1 in the Associated Press Poll and second in the USA Today Coaches Poll at the end of the regular season. In 1993, Virginia lost in the East Region Championship to NCAA runner-up Ohio State
. The Lady Cavs lost all four tournament games by a total of only 15 points with the biggest score differential being their 9 point loss to Stanford in 1990.
While at UVA, Burge was the ACC Player of the Year and a Kodak District All-American in 1993 and was also a two-time Academic All-American (1992 & 1993), a two-time ACC All-Conference selectee (1992 & 1993), a two-time selectee to the NCAA All-Tournament team (1992 & 1993), and a three-year member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll (1991-1993). As of May 2011, Burge is first all-time for the Lady Cavs in career blocked shots with 152, in free throw attempts with 640, and in games played with 135, second in career rebounds with 955, third in career scoring with 2,058 points, sixth in career double-double's with 30, and 10th in free throws made with 326. She is also 13th all-time in the ACC in scoring.
After graduating with a bachelors degree with a dual major in Spanish
and Drama
, Burge first played on the 1993 USA National Team and then played professionally for six years overseas. Following her time overseas, Burge accepted an offer to play in the infant Women's National Basketball Association
(WNBA) for the Sacramento Monarchs
in 1999 (one year after Heidi had ended her two-year WNBA career). In her season with the team, she played little and was only on the court for a total of 28 min spread over 13 games. However, the team played well, finishing the season 19-13 and in third place in the Western Conference, but lost a one-game first round playoff game to the Los Angeles Sparks
. After a single year playing with the Monarchs, she chose to return overseas and accepted an offer to play for the ESBVA team in Lille, France. However, she retired after the 2001 season due to lingering injuries. Upon retirement, one of Burge's biggest professional disappointments was that she was never able to either play with or against Heidi.
After retiring from baseketball on June 1, 2001, Burge stayed in California and taught 8th grade Spanish at Miraleste Intermediate School
in Palos Verdes
, CA. She later received a Masters degree in Multi-Lingual Education. She is now a stay-at-home mom and lives with her husband, Darren Quella, and their two children in Los Angeles
. She also has teamed up with San Pedro High School
boys basketball coach John Bobich to run a youth basketball camp in San Pedro, CA.
At 6 feet 5 inches each, the pair were recognized in 1991 by Guiness World Records as the world's tallest female twins. This record was broken in 2004 by Ann and Claire Recht. The Disney television movie, Double Teamed
, which was released in 2002, is based on their life stories and achievements in high school basketball. In the movie, Burge is played by actress Poppi Monroe
. Burge has a small part in the 2002 film Juwanna Mann
starring Vivica A. Fox
. She plays the character "Magda Rowonowitch" and is credited as Heather Quella.
In September 2002, Burge was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference 50th Anniversary Women's Basketball Team. Included in the eight members that played at UVA were Val Ackerman
(who played for Virginia from 1978-81), Tonya Cardoza (1987-91), Dena Evans (1990-93), Donna Holt (1985-88), Wendy Palmer (1993-96), Tammi Reiss (1989-92), and Dawn Staley (1989-92).
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player and is the twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
sister of Heidi (Burge) Horton
Heidi Burge
Heidi Ann Horton is a former professional basketball player and is the twin sister of Heather Quella.-Growing up:...
.
Growing up
Prior to starting High School, the Burge family moved to Palos Verdes Estates, CA so that the sisters could attend Palos Verdes High SchoolPalos Verdes High School
Palos Verdes High School is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California, USA...
. Although Burge was not originally interested in playing basketball, as she preferred theater and volleyball, after being asked to tryout by the ladies basketball coach her senior year, she quickly fell in love with the game. Burge also brought success to the team, transforming the Sea Kings into Southern Section 3-A champions in 1987 and concluding her high-school career atop the school's the all-time list of girls' scorers with 1,345 points. After graduation, both sisters accepted scholarships to attend the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
and play for the Lady Cavaliers basketball team. Although the pair would attend the same school, they did not live together or even have the same circle of friends. The Burge's also did not play the same position on the court as Heidi preferred the outside game and Heather (who is 6 minutes older than Heidi) played inside, was the go-to scorer in the paint, and banged against the opposing team's center.
Basketball star
UVA would win right away with Burge averaging 12.2 points and 6.7 rebounds a game her freshman year and the pair playing a big part in leading the team to the school's first three, and to date only, Atlantic Coast ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
championships (in 1990, 1992 and 1993) and Women's NCAA Final Four appearances (1990-1992). Following the school year in 1989 and 1990, Burge was asked to play for USA Basketball
USA Basketball
USA Basketball is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympic Committee...
U18 and U19 basketball teams
USA Women's U18 and U19 teams
The USA Women's U18 and U19 teams are two of the teams under the auspices of the USA Basketball organization. The team names refer to the age limits for the invited players...
and won a gold medal at the 1990 US Olympic Festival. Things did not always go smoothly for the Burges in their freshman and sophomore seasons as the pair were frequently in foul trouble, rarely played at the same time on the court (due to their foul situation), fought with teammates and each other, and were considered by their teammates to be both "soft" and prone to mistakes and turnovers.
However during their time with UVA, the pair averaged 24 points and seven rebounds per game and teamed with NCAA All-Americans Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley
Dawn Michelle Staley is an American basketball player and coach. Staley is a three-time Olympian and was elected to carry the United States flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics. She was named the University of South Carolina women's head basketball coach on May 7, 2008...
and Tammi Reiss to lead the Cavaliers to three consecutive Final Fours and a 1991 overtime loss to Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
in the championship game. In all three trips to the Final Four, the Cavaliers lost to the eventual NCAA Champion (losing to Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1990 and 1992). Virginia's 1992 campaign ended with a school-record 32 wins (32-2, 15-1 in the ACC) and the team was ranked #1 in the Associated Press Poll and second in the USA Today Coaches Poll at the end of the regular season. In 1993, Virginia lost in the East Region Championship to NCAA runner-up Ohio State
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
. The Lady Cavs lost all four tournament games by a total of only 15 points with the biggest score differential being their 9 point loss to Stanford in 1990.
While at UVA, Burge was the ACC Player of the Year and a Kodak District All-American in 1993 and was also a two-time Academic All-American (1992 & 1993), a two-time ACC All-Conference selectee (1992 & 1993), a two-time selectee to the NCAA All-Tournament team (1992 & 1993), and a three-year member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll (1991-1993). As of May 2011, Burge is first all-time for the Lady Cavs in career blocked shots with 152, in free throw attempts with 640, and in games played with 135, second in career rebounds with 955, third in career scoring with 2,058 points, sixth in career double-double's with 30, and 10th in free throws made with 326. She is also 13th all-time in the ACC in scoring.
After graduating with a bachelors degree with a dual major in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, Burge first played on the 1993 USA National Team and then played professionally for six years overseas. Following her time overseas, Burge accepted an offer to play in the infant Women's National Basketball Association
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...
(WNBA) for the Sacramento Monarchs
Sacramento Monarchs
The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009...
in 1999 (one year after Heidi had ended her two-year WNBA career). In her season with the team, she played little and was only on the court for a total of 28 min spread over 13 games. However, the team played well, finishing the season 19-13 and in third place in the Western Conference, but lost a one-game first round playoff game to the Los Angeles Sparks
Los Angeles Sparks
The Los Angeles Sparks is a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began...
. After a single year playing with the Monarchs, she chose to return overseas and accepted an offer to play for the ESBVA team in Lille, France. However, she retired after the 2001 season due to lingering injuries. Upon retirement, one of Burge's biggest professional disappointments was that she was never able to either play with or against Heidi.
Post-Retirement
Miraleste Intermediate School
Miraleste Intermediate School is one of three public middle schools in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District .-Overview:...
in Palos Verdes
Palos Verdes
Palos Verdes is a name often used to refer to a group of coastal cities in the Palos Verdes Hills on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S...
, CA. She later received a Masters degree in Multi-Lingual Education. She is now a stay-at-home mom and lives with her husband, Darren Quella, and their two children in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. She also has teamed up with San Pedro High School
San Pedro High School
San Pedro High School is a public high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District and is located in the San Pedro portion of the city of Los Angeles, California. In 2003, the school celebrated its 100th Anniversary....
boys basketball coach John Bobich to run a youth basketball camp in San Pedro, CA.
At 6 feet 5 inches each, the pair were recognized in 1991 by Guiness World Records as the world's tallest female twins. This record was broken in 2004 by Ann and Claire Recht. The Disney television movie, Double Teamed
Double Teamed
Double Teamed! is a Disney Channel Original Movie based on the life stories of twin sisters, Heather and Heidi Burge. The film was released on VHS but is now out of print.-Plot:...
, which was released in 2002, is based on their life stories and achievements in high school basketball. In the movie, Burge is played by actress Poppi Monroe
Poppi Monroe
Poppi Cee Jay Monroe, although she was born in Van Nuys, California at the humble family home of her parents Coni and Ed Monroe, the family moved to Taos, New Mexico before she could remember. She spent most of her childhood being raised in Taos...
. Burge has a small part in the 2002 film Juwanna Mann
Juwanna Mann
Juwanna Mann is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Jesse Vaughan. The movie stars Miguel A. Núñez, Jr. as Jamal Jeffries, a basketball star turned female impersonator after being banned from men's basketball. The film also stars Vivica A. Fox, Kevin Pollak, Tommy Davidson, Kim Wayans,...
starring Vivica A. Fox
Vivica A. Fox
Vivica Anjanetta Fox is an American actress and television producer. She is best known for her roles in the films Independence Day, Set It Off, Soul Food, Why Do Fools Fall In Love,Kill Bill and Juwanna Mann....
. She plays the character "Magda Rowonowitch" and is credited as Heather Quella.
In September 2002, Burge was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference 50th Anniversary Women's Basketball Team. Included in the eight members that played at UVA were Val Ackerman
Val Ackerman
Valerie B. "Val" Ackerman was born on November 7, 1959 in Lakewood Township, New Jersey but grew up in Pennington, New Jersey, United States. She is an attorney, sports executive, and former basketball player...
(who played for Virginia from 1978-81), Tonya Cardoza (1987-91), Dena Evans (1990-93), Donna Holt (1985-88), Wendy Palmer (1993-96), Tammi Reiss (1989-92), and Dawn Staley (1989-92).
WNBA Career Statistics
| Season | Age | Team | GP | GS | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | OFF | DEF | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 28 | Monarchs Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009... |
13 | 0 | 2.2 | .429 | .000 | .200 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 |