Hoops and breast cancer awareness

Folks, on Feb. 14, UCLA’s women’s basketball team plays Arizona State and will wear pink uniforms to promote breast cancer awareness. Those uniforms will be auctioned off online after the game.
There is also a Carnival for the Cure that will take place from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. outside of Pauley Pavilion.
The release from UCLA is below:

UCLA Women’s Basketball To Host Pink Zone Game Feb. 14

Bruins join fight to raise awareness for breast cancer.

Join the UCLA women’s basketball team on Saturday, Feb. 14 as the Bruins, in conjunction with the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association (WBCA) and the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Education & Resource Center (WHERC), participate in “Pink Zone” activities to help support and promote breast cancer awareness.

During the Bruins’ Feb. 14 game against Arizona State, both teams will take part in bringing attention to breast cancer awareness. UCLA will wear special white and pink uniforms, which will be auctioned off online after the game, with proceeds to be divided between the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, the Revlon/UCLA Breast Center and the Iris Cantor-UCLA WHERC. Both coaching staffs, band and spirit squad will also wear pink at the game, and the first 2,500 fans in the building will receive a free pink UCLA basketball t-shirt.

Prior to the game, the First Annual Carnival for the Cure will take place outside of Pauley Pavilion from 11am-1 pm. Admission is free. The event will feature fun carnival games, giveaways and prizes, face-painting booths, trivia games, healthy food samplings and cooking demonstrations. UCLA student-athletes, including members of the women’s basketball team, will also be on hand for autographs and photos.

All fans attending the game are encouraged to wear pink. To help aid the cause, fans can purchase a pink UCLA Breast Cancer Awareness t-shirt for $10 and receive free admission to the game. The t-shirts will be available for sale at the BearWear stand outside of Pauley Pavilion before the game. There will also be advanced t-shirt sales at upcoming UCLA men’s basketball home games on Jan. 29, Jan. 31, Feb. 4 and Feb. 11 and at the Feb. 12 women’s game against Arizona. All proceeds from t-shirt sales will go towards the Revlon/UCLA Breast Center.

UCLA participated in a breast cancer awareness game in 2008, wearing white and pink uniforms during a nationally televised game against Washington. After the 75-68 win over the Huskies, the team put those uniforms on sale for a special online auction, which recorded gross sales of over $5,000.

The WBCA’s “Pink Zone” initiative is a global, unified effort for the nation’s coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in the communities and beyond. In 2008, over 1,100 teams and organizations participated, reaching over 830,000 fans and raising over $930,000 for breast cancer awareness and research.

Breast cancer awareness has great meaning to the UCLA women’s basketball team, as several UCLA players have had family members affected by breast cancer. Head coach Nikki Caldwell has been an avid cruisader for breast cancer awareness. She co-founded the non-profit organization, Champions for a Cause, which has raised nearly $100,000 since 2007 through Cruisin’ for a Cause, a long-haul motorcycle adventure to raise dollars and awareness for a cure for breast cancer. One of Caldwell’s mentors was North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow, who passed away on Jan. 24 after a 22-year battle with breast cancer.