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| "Pack the Place Pink Night " 2008

February 12, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. -- Support Sherri Coale and the Sooners in raising breast cancer awareness by coming to the Lloyd Noble Center for "Pack the Place Pink Night" as the OU women's basketball team hosts 2007 Big 12 Co-Champions Texas A&M on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m.

Visit WBCA.org for more information

The inaugural "Pack the Place Pink Night" started in 2007 in conjunction with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) "Think Pink" program. The initative is a global, unified effort for the WBCA nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. In 2007, more than 120 schools unified for this effort and helped make the inaugural year of "Think Pink" a success. The 2008 initiative has already unified over 600 women's basketball teams for the cause.

"We know that with early detection, we stand the best chance of beating breast cancer which still claims approximately 41,000 lives each year," said Elizabeth Jett, M.D., director of imaging for the OU Breast Institute. "Yet, there are still alarming numbers of women over the age of 40 who do not get regular mammograms. We hope events like the OU Think Pink game will help spread the word about the importance of screening and early detection."

At last year's "Pack the Place Pink Night", 11,245 members of the Sooner Nation cheered OU to a 20-point victory over archrival Texas on a nationally television game on ESPN2. Over $8,000 was raised for breast cancer research.

Let's show up even stronger this year and pack the Lloyd Noble Center with even more support. Tickets for remaining OU home women's basketball games are still available, but are selling quickly.

Ticket Information

General Admission - $8 for adults and $5 for youths
Group Tickets - $5 (minimum of 10 people; must order 24 hours in advance)
OU Students - free admission with valid student ID

Online Auction | Bid Here

The University of Oklahoma women's basketball team, in partnership with CSTV, is auctioning several game-used items in order to promote breast cancer awareness.

As part of the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association's (WBCA) "February Frenzy," the Sooners have made available 17 authentic items that will be used by players and coaches during OU's "Pack the Place Pink Night" against Texas A&M Tuesday, Feb. 12.

All proceeds generated by the auction will be donated to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

The items include:

• The official game ball, specially designed by Nike for this game embossed with a pink ribbon emblem, to be autographed by the entire team and Coach Coale.

• Sherri Coale-autographed pink Jimmy Choo high heels worn by the head coach during the game.

• Three pairs of pink Nike tennis shoes worn by the assistant coaches to be autographed by the entire team and Coach Coale.

• 12 pink Oklahoma women's basketball warm-up T-shirts to be autographed by the entire team and Coach Coale.

To bid on items, visit the online auctions page at SoonerSports.com. Bidding on Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund Auction items will close Friday, Feb. 19, one week following the game.

Statewide Participation

The University of Oklahoma women's basketball team would like to extend its apppreciation to the following local schools that are also participating in "Think Pink" week by promoting breast cancer awareness during a game the week of Feb. 8-17.

Comanche, Drummond, Fox, Grove, Hillsdale College, Kingfisher, Miami, Okarche, Piedmont, Plainview, Pryor, Sallisaw, Sequoyah, Shawnee, Sperry, Spiro, Stonewall, Sulphur, Tulsa Union, Vinita, Wetumka, Wynona.

Breast Cancer Facts and Statistics

• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for all women and the leading overall cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 20 and 59
• In the United States, breast cancer is expected to be newly diagnosed every three minutes, and a woman will die from breast cancer every 13 minutes
• African American women have a higher breast cancer death rate than women of any other racial or ethnic population
• Eighty percent of all breast tumors are benign
• In 2007, it was estimated that there would be 178,480 new cases of breast cancer in women and 2,030 new cases of breast cancer in men. Of these, an estimated 40,460 women and 450 men will die from the disease
• The basic treatment choices for breast cancer are surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and hormonal therapy
• The most common risk factors of breast cancer are sex, age, personal history, family history and breast cancer genes
• The highest risk factor for breast cancer is being female with the disease being 100 times more common among women
• The risk of breast cancer increases as a woman grows older
• Women who have had breast cancer and women with a history of breast disease may develop it again
• The risk of developing breast cancer increases for a woman whose mother, sister, daughter or two or more relatives have had the disease
• Some women and men may be born with a change in one or two genes that are important for regulating breast cell growth. Those who inherit an alteration in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are at an inherited higher risk for breast cancer
• The hormone Estrogen may also play a key role in the risk factors of breast cancer including having an early first period or menstrual bleeding, having a first pregnancy after the age of 25 to 35, having no children and the use of Hormone Replacement Therapy
• Women who begin menstruating before the age of 12 are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer - the more menstrual cycles a woman gets over her lifetime, the more likely she is to get the disease
• Early pregnancies may help to lower the chances of getting breast cancer, but these same hormonal changes may work in reverse and contribute to the incidence of breast cancer after age 35
• Women who experience continuous menstrual cycles until menopause are at a higher than average risk for breast cancer
• Women appear to have an increased risk of breast cancer while they are on Hormone Replacement Therapy which continues for a short time thereafter
• There are several lifestyle choices that individuals can make to help reduce breast cancer risk including decreasing daily fat intake (especially saturated and hydrogenated), increasing fiber, eating fresh fruits and vegetables, limiting alcohol, staying active and not smoking
• The best available method to detect breast cancer early is a mammography screening
• Breast cancer is the most invasive cancer among women in the U.S. accounting for nearly one out of every three cancers diagnosed
• An estimated 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to occur in 2007
*Sources: AstraZeneca - getbcfacts.com
American Cancer Society - cancer.org

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