The women’s basketball team has the color pink on the brain — and it’s not because of that new sorority.
Pink will mix just fine with red and blue this weekend when the Quakers take on Columbia at the Palestra in Penn’s annual Pink Zone game.
Organized by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, Pink Zone’s stated mission is to “assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.”
In 2010, Pink Zone raised upwards of $1 million for breast cancer research.
Columbia (5-15, 4-2 Ivy), Penn’s opponent on Saturday, hosted its own Pink Zone event on Feb. 5 when it defeated Yale.
The Quakers (7-12, 1-4) will warm up for the Columbia game clad in pink warmups emblazoned with a combined Pink Zone and Penn logo.
“It’s nice to really focus on the breast cancer awareness,” junior captain Jess Knapp said. “There’s a huge marketing push and we get a lot of fans out.”
The Penn Athletics marketing department has indeed been hard at work promoting the Pink Zone game for the last few weeks.
As part of a multi-pronged effort, flyers were placed in dining halls and dorms, and ads for the game have aired on televisions in Pottruck and Fox Fitness Centers.
“It’s a nice initiative that the WBCA has taken up, and they raise a large amount of money,” coach Mike McLaughlin said.
All of the money raised will be donated to Penn’s Rena Rowan Breast Center at the Abramson Cancer Center.
While the Quakers can feel good about helping the Pink Zone cause, they will also look to improve their spirits regarding conference contests.
The Quakers lost their last two Ivy matchups in heart-breaking fashion by just seven combined points.
On Friday against Cornell (5-15, 2-4) and Saturday against Columbia, Penn will set its sights on two Ivy wins in the Palestra, in that bastion of red and blue — and pink.
