The words "heart murmur" didn't truly register with Rutgers women's basketball star Tyler Scaife the first time the doctor said them.
"I'm playing basketball. I don't have a heart murmur," is how Scaife reacted during a routine physical exam.
Subsequent tests proved otherwise, however, and launched Scaife on a two-year odyssey that showed her strength, patience and maturity.
Scaife underwent an atrial septal defect repair -- open-heart surgery -- to correct a congenital heart defect. The revelation ends speculation over what caused her to miss the entire 2016-17 season and take a medical redshirt.