Jan. 17, 2008

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - USC Upstate will host its first `Think Pink Day' in conjunction with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and the Upstate section of the American Cancer Society on Saturday, Feb. 16 as part of the Spartans' doubleheader with Belmont.

"We couldn't be happier to join the WBCA in support of this great event for breast cancer awareness across the country," Upstate women's basketball head coach Tammy George said. "It is a disease we have all been touched by in some way and our program is happy to help raise awareness and help in a small way and join the fight against breast cancer."

USC Upstate is asking for fans to "Pink Out" the Hodge Center, as all fans who wear pink will get in free to the game. All donations are welcome and will benefit the American Cancer Society. All fans that come to the game, which is a doubleheader with the Upstate men facing Belmont at 4 p.m., will be given a pink ribbon provided by the American Cancer Society as a symbol of awareness of the dangers of breast cancer.

As part of the festivities, the American Cancer Society will have a booth available with information on breast cancer. Breast cancer survivors will also be recognized at halftime of the women's basketball game.

Spartans Think Pink T-shirts will also be available for purchase for $10, with all proceeds going to benefit the American Cancer Society. Click here for a proof of the T-shirt (PDF). The Spartans will wear a pink warm-up jersey and also wear pink shoelaces during the game.

The WBCA's "Think Pink" initiative is a global, unified effort for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.

The WBCA began "Think Pink" in 2007 as an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women's basketball, on campuses and in communities. In 2007, more than 120 schools unified for this effort and helped make the inaugural year of the WBCA's "Think Pink" a success. More than 600 schools from across the nation have pledged to have Think Pink games between Feb. 8 and 17 this year.

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service. For more information on the American Cancer Society and ways to help fight the disease, please visit its Web site: www.cancer.org or call 1-800-ACS-2345.

"Our developing relationship with the American Cancer Society is something that will benefit not just the women's basketball program, but our whole athletics program, the University and the Upstate community as a whole," Upstate director of athletics Mike Hall said. "The whole athletics family at Upstate is looking forward to our first `Think Pink' event."