I think the Convocation Center looks pretty in pink!

The Ohio Bobcats held their annual Pink Zone Game in honor of the breast cancer fight and the late Kay Yow (former North Carolina State women’s basketball coach) Saturday against Toledo. The first 500 fans in attendance received a pink T-shirt with the breast cancer pink ribbon and Ohio Women’s Basketball displayed prominently on the front.

This time of the year is dedicated to “saving the ta-tas” (their slogan not mine) in college basketball because of coach Yow and her arduous struggle with cancer. Yow battled breast cancer three separate times until she passed away in January 2009, but before she died, she was an offensive front for the cause.  

“I remember as a player, I just thought she was a great role model for the women’s game,” Ohio women’s coach Semeka Randall said. “She just had a kind heart, nice, open and gave me words of wisdom as a player to just continue to play hard, and how much she enjoyed to watch me play and how she wished that her players played that way.”

Randall played against Yow’s N.C. State team while she played for the University of Tennessee from 1998-2001. Both times Randall faced Yow’s team as a player, the Volunteers won. In 2000, they won 83-63, and in 2001 they dominated 93-56.

Dressed in nice dress pants, her Pink Zone T-shirt and white and pink sneakers, Randall explained how this promotion is special to her not only as a coach and a former player, but as a relative and a woman.

“My aunt passed away from breast cancer,” Randall said. “So it means a lot to me to be able to represent this, and this is something that is happening a lot in our society today so it’s great that the women’s game isn’t all about basketball. It’s about some life things that we support and are important to me. And it’s really important to me.”

Although this unique promotion was a success, the game itself wasn’t so much.

The Bobcats lost to Toledo 76-54, dropping Ohio to 6-17 (2-8 MAC). The Lady Cats struggled defensively and weren’t able to cover the perimeter as Toledo hit 38.1 percent of their three-point attempts and 50 percent of their field goals.

On a positive note, Ohio guard Jennifer Bushby passed 1,000 career points, a milestone that was dampened by the loss at home.   

“It’s nice. It’s a nice accomplishment,” Bushby said.  “It would be a lot nicer if we were winning basketball games, but it’s nice. I was really blessed to be able to come in and play my freshman year, and I have had the opportunity to play every year since then.”

It’s obvious that morale is down inside the Lady Bobcat locker room, but forward Kamille Buckner said that anyone can still win the MAC tournament and place inside the NCAA bracket in March.

“Even though we aren’t playing that great right now, and we’re not winning, we still have a chance,” Buckner said. “And that’s what we are all feeding off of right now. We haven’t packed it in yet and we can still do great things this season.”

Breast cancer kills approximately 41,000 women in the United States each year. One in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. The most important risk factor for breast cancer is being female.

Those are some harsh statistics. It makes shooting 40 percent from the free-throw line seem so meaningless.


To make a donation send checks to:

Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund Attn: Megan Smith

4646 Lawrenceville Highway

Lilburn, GA 30047

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