'Transformed' Monica Burns has happy homecoming with Cal women's basketball

The transformation began last summer.

Monica Burns, all but finished with college basketball after two eye-catching years at Wheeling Jesuit, came to Cal (Pa.) to get a master’s degree in cybersecurity. She had a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

It seemed almost criminal a player of her caliber was wasting her final year of eligibility. But she opted to use that year and make a return to the court.

It was like the 5-foot-6 senior guard from Hempfield never left.

Local friends and family got to watch her play again Wednesday night when defensive-minded Cal played a PSAC West game at Seton Hill.

Burns responded with a double-double.

She led Cal with 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 67-58 victory at McKenna Center. Seton Hill had upset the visiting Vulcans the past two years.

She hit three 3-pointers and went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line as the No. 20-ranked Vulcans (13-3, 7-3) snapped an 11-game home winning streak for Seton Hill (12-3, 7-3).

Burns had not played a game in front of her hometown fans as a starter since high school.

“There was a little pressure coming into today’s game,” Burns said. “I knew if I wanted to see the floor more, I knew I had to play tough defense, ball pressure and rebounding. I had to do more than what I normally do on offense.”

“Mo” had more to give after she felt a disconnect with the game after leaving Wheeling Jesuit following a playoff loss.

“I kind of lost a love for the game,” she said. “It was a low note for me to feel that way. I am not ashamed to admit that now.”

Known for her prowess as a free-throw shooter who achieved, by all accounts, a world record that was underplayed, by making 118 foul shots in a row while at Wheeling Jesuit, the crafty lefty Burns leads Cal in scoring and 3-pointers.

Coming into Wednesday’s game, she was averaging 16.1 points and 3.8 rebounds and had hit a team-leading 36 3-pointers.

She had six games of at least 20 points.

“I have known Monica for years because her dad works at Cal,” Vulcans coach Jess Strom said. “We have never had a shooter like Mo. She is such an offensive-minded player, so it was a huge change for her because of the way we play defense. She has given 100% effort to defense. Even if she messes up, she messed up at 100 mph.”

Burns scored 28 against Fairmont State and made 11 of 15 shots for 27 points in a recent loss to Edinboro.

She had made 66 of 76 free throws before the Vulcans visited Greensburg. She averaged 17.7 points in her final season at Wheeling.

Back to that transformation. Burns took a year off from the game for personal reasons, and the time away gave her an opportunity to reflect. But she kept busy. The break was nothing more than a dramatic pause.

Playing intramurals against men at Cal while vigorously training, running and spending late nights in the gym has paid off for her last hurrah.

She lost 20 pounds and gained strength in a relentless effort to recommit herself.

Like free throws, this was repetition warmed over. She watched countless games online and in person. Her younger sister, Michelle, is a junior standout at Point Park.

“I am on a mission,” Monica Burns said in July.

“It is paying off because of the way we play defense,” Burns said Wednesday. “I am expected to take charges and work on ball pressure. I had to step up my game defensively.”

Her career has been a series of chapters, some closed to allow others to open.

Burns has been in the PSAC before. Some forget she played sparingly as a freshman at IUP before leaving for Wheeling Jesuit.

“She rounds their team out,” Seton Hill coach Mark Katarski said. “She has assimilated well to what they do and how they play.”

A former Tribune-Review Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Burns is the Hempfield girls’ all-time leading scorer with 1,295 points.

Seton Hill junior Katie Nolan had a career game Wednesday with 23 points and 18 rebounds, the second most in program history. Senior Lexi Civittolo added 16 points for the Griffins, who were averaging 83 points.

Bianca Jasper added 12 points, six rebounds and five assists for Cal, and DJ Hahn had 10 points.

Cal went 16 for 16 from the free-throw line.