SEATTLE – It was clear when Kayla Burt’s Washington career came to an end last week that the Washington women’s basketball team would need someone else to step up to try to replace Burt’s production.
Burt was one of the Huskies’ most capable ball-handlers and one of their best 3-point shooters.
While senior Nicole Castro has picked up some of Burt’s ball-handling duties, junior guard Cheri Craddock is taking most advantage of the opportunity.
Craddock played in every game last season for the Huskies, making two starts and averaging nearly 13 minutes. She was one of the UW’s top outside shooters (31-for-88 on 3-pointers) and helped provide some solid offense off the bench.
This season, though, Craddock has seen little action, playing just six minutes a game, usually in garbage time. But in the three games since Burt’s been gone, she’s averaged almost 10 minutes and eight points a game, going 6-for-9. on 3-pointers and 9-for-16 overall.
Craddock said she was “very” frustrated by not playing and isn’t sure why her minutes had gone down. But she said her newfound opportunity has made her feel more a part of the team.
“You always want to contribute, and even though you’re on the team and you’re winning, you feel like you didn’t,” Craddock said. “To be on the team and cheer your teammates, that’s contributing but playing, you feel a little more involved.”
UW coach June Daugherty said several factors kept Craddock on the bench. Other players were doing more in practice, and Craddock wasn’t doing much more than just shooting.
“To be productive in the Pac-10, you can’t just be a shooter,” Daugherty said. “You’ve got to get stops. Otherwise, you get a three and they get a three. You’ve got to be able to rebound and get us into our offense. She’s getting better and better at those things.”
Craddock said she recently has had some good practices, which might have helped her move up the depth chart. She says she never lost confidence in her shot.
“I don’t change much,” Craddock said. “I’m always confident. As a shooter, you’ve always got to be confident. Sometimes being confident and knowing you can hit a shot, even if it comes out of your hand wrong, you can will it to go in.”
Craddock’s cousin is former Husky and current New York Knick Nate Robinson, a confident player if there ever was one. She still talks to Robinson on occasion.
“He’s real busy, but he still calls every now and then,” Craddock said. “He tells me to keep doing what I’m doing and not worry about things I can’t control.”
“Her window of opportunity got bigger,” Daugherty said. “It’s fun to see her take advantage of it. Her confidence is growing, she’s shooting the ball well, she’s settling into what looks like a new role for her. She’s not on a lot of scouting reports so she’s kind of our secret weapon right now.”
Who’s going to be there? The UWwomen play Washington State at 1 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, and Daugherty said she’s not sure how many people will go to the game. She said an Ohio State-Iowa women’s game on Super Bowl Sunday drew 20,000 fans once, though.
“It’s the Apple Cup, a TV game, we’ve got our alumni coming, our auction, we’ve got a lot of things going on,” Daugherty said. “Hopefully people will just start their Super Bowl Sunday out earlier with us.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
