Hoops for a higher cause

If ever there was a time to get off the couch and get a glimpse of the IU women’s basketball team, it would have to be for the contest against Michigan Sunday, Feb. 17 at noon.\nWhat is so special about this game, you might ask?\nThe Hoosiers will try to avenge a Jan. 24 loss to the Wolverines while also trying to climb the Big Ten ladder and make up a one-and-a-half game deficit out of the top spot. If that’s not enough for you, the Hoosiers will be participating in a battle of more epic proportions: fighting against breast cancer.\nThe team is dubbing its game against the Wolverines the “Hoosiers’ Think Pink” game. IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack wants fans to come out and support the cream and crimson, as usual, but this time with a slight modification in the color scheme – \nwear pink.\n“We need to bring serious awareness to breast cancer, and cancer in general,” Legette-Jack said.\nEven though breast cancer is a world-wide problem, she said, it becomes a much more serious issue when it hits closer to home, as was Legette-Jack’s case.\n“It’s the disease that took my father’s life and I have a real special place for that,” Legette-Jack said. “And when the NCAA took a special interest in breast cancer, I raised my hand to be a part of that. We are very excited to help even just a little bit by doing this in our building, and if we could ever do something to cure this thing it would be a blessing.”\nAssembly Hall will host National Girls and Women in Sports Day by providing a number of fun and exciting activities for young fans to participate in before the game, including booths representing other athletic teams and IU departments.These booths are designed to bring bigger crowds, which have been something that are, Legette-Jack admits, very much lacking.\nSo if watching top-notch women’s basketball isn’t enough of a reason for you to be at Assembly Hall in a couple Sundays, come for the noble cause of fighting a disease that afflicts an estimated 178,480 women per year, killing 40,460, according to the American Cancer Society’s Web site.\n“Its important to come out and support in general,” Legette-Jack said. “But if breast cancer is a reason to come out and support our team, I’ll take that, too.”