Heidi Burge Horton, former UVA and WNBA star, dies at 54

Heidi Burge Horton, a former WNBA player whose basketball journey alongside her twin sister inspired Disney's Double Teamed, has died, according to the University of Virginia women's basketball program.

Standing 6-foot-5, Horton and her twin sister, Heather Burge, became one of the most recognizable sibling duos in women's basketball. The sisters helped lead Virginia to three ACC championships and three NCAA Final Four appearances before graduating in 1993, according to UVA Athletics.

Their story inspired Disney's 2002 film Double Teamed, which chronicled the twins' rise from high school standouts to professional basketball players. The movie was based on the lives of Heidi and Heather and their path to basketball stardom.

After starring at Virginia, Horton spent about two and a half seasons in the WNBA, playing for the Los Angeles Sparks in 1997 and the Washington Mystics from 1998 to 1999, according to UVA Athletics. She also played seven seasons overseas before a back injury ended her professional career. She retired in January 2000.

After retiring, Horton became president and head coach of Hoops-School in west Houston, mentoring young athletes and teaching the values of character and leadership alongside basketball skills. From 1999 to 2009, Horton operated the nonprofit organization Heidi's Hoops for Hope, which provided free basketball camps to inner-city and underserved schools, according to her Hoops-School bio. She also worked as an orthopedic massage therapist and physiotherapist.

She married Patrick Lee Horton on Sept. 29, 2001, and made her home in Houston, where she continued coaching and working with young athletes long after her professional playing days ended.

The University of Virginia women's basketball program remembered Horton this week as "a cherished member of the Virginia Women's Basketball family" whose legacy will remain a part of Virginia athletics.