Springfield, Ohio —Wittenberg University's women's basketball team has made a habit of winning basketball games over the last 20 years, more than any other North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) program, in fact. However, Wittenberg team members and coaches know that breast cancer is a much more significant battle from which not enough people emerge victorious.
In recognition of the on-going battle against cancer, and in honor of both those who have survived and those whose lives have been taken by the disease, Head Coach Sarah Jurewicz, class of 1998, has once again organized a Wittenberg celebration of Pink Zone, a program organized by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The Tigers' Pink Zone celebration is scheduled for the Tigers' home game against the College of Wooster at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13.
Pink Zone, a program started in 2007 under the name Think Pink, is the WBCA's "global, unified effort...to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond." More than 1,000 colleges and high schools participate in the program each year, including Wittenberg, which has traditionally recognized breast cancer survivors during an annual halftime tribute ceremony.
The Wittenberg event annually pays tribute to Pam Evans Smith, for whom the arena in the university's HPER Center was named on Feb. 2, 2008. As always, T-shirts will be sold throughout the event, a breast cancer awareness information table will be set up to educate participants, and all gate receipts from the game will be donated to Wittenberg's Pam Evans Smith Memorial Fund.
Created one month after the women's basketball coach with the most wins and highest winning percentage in NCAC history passed away, the fund now has more than $75,000 to provide scholarships to deserving female senior students who demonstrate leadership and academic abilities. In 2009-10, the team's leading scorer and rebounder Stephanie Boardman, class of 2010 from Cincinnati, Ohio, is one of the recipients.
Written by: Ryan Maurer
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