Semoball

Pink is much more than a Valentine's tribute as Southeast Missouri women's basketball recognizes the fight against breast cancer

Southeast Missouri State's Jessie Harshberger looks to pass as Eastern Illinois' Taylor Steele defends during the second quarter Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018 at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks wore pink to raise breast cancer awareness on Play 4 Kay night.
Fred Lynch

With the calendar flipped to Feb. 14 and love in the air, the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team donned pink on Wednesday in a thrilling 51-48 win over Eastern Illinois at the Show Me Center.

But the colors were not a mere tribute to Valentine's Day.

Instead, the fashion choice was made to recognize breast cancer survivors and raise awareness for advances in fighting the disease.

The Redhawks wore white and pink uniforms and pulled on black and pink warmup shirts that brought attention to a specific cause: the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

Nike provided "Play 4 Kay" T-shirts to university athletic programs that operate under its umbrella, and Southeast wore the shirts Wednesday during pregame warmups as well as while sitting on the bench.

The Kay in question is women's basketball coaching legend Kay Yow, who coached North Carolina State for 34 years before succumbing to breast cancer in 2009. Her name now graces a fundraising endeavor designed to help find a cure.

For SEMO head coach Rekha Patterson, a North Carolina native, the "Play 4 Kay" night holds special meaning for multiple reasons.

"Me, being from North Carolina, I used to go and watch NC State vs. Virgina," Patterson said. "... Being from North Carolina, Kay Yow has a special place in my heart. She died of breast cancer, and now women's basketball, we all play a 'Play 4 Kay' game and trying to bring awareness to it. In the future I hope we can raise some money to give to the Kay Yow foundation. Maybe next year that's what we'll do.

"[Cancer] happens to a lot of people -- a lot of people are diagnosed with breast cancer. The older you get, the more people you know it impacts. I had a college teammate who beat breast cancer maybe a year or so ago. It's something that affects a lot of women and we are a women's sport, and we want to make sure we are recognizing and making people aware of it and the people who survive and the strides that have been made."

At 4:24 of the third quarter, during a timeout, cancer survivors in the crowd were asked to stand and were honored with an ovation.

On the sidelines, Patterson wore bright pink heels as an ode to the cause, while the players added a special touch to their T-shirts: each Redhawk hand-wrote names of individuals they wanted to honor onto a pink stripe across their chest.

"That was something they did on their own. I didn't know they were going to do it," Patterson said. "I think Carrie (Shepherd) said right before we came out for the game, she says, 'Play for the people on your shirt.' I thought that was a really special touch and, again, they did that on their own. There are a lot of people who are affected by cancer and we have some kids with families who are going through that.

"I'm proud of our players for the way that they played and I'm proud of them for writing on their shirts and I'm proud of them for recognizing what this game means."

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