"Think Pink" Week

Life is full of twists, turns, and surprises. I had planned to write about the "Think Pink" Week before it began; but, my laptop monitor had other ideas. Thursday evening, the monitor went dim; and, I couldn't see a thing on the computer screen. My plans to write had been postponed. Fortunately, a friend of mine was able to solve the computer problem; and, now I'm writing once again.

February 8, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced that over 900 participants have committed to the 2008 "Think Pink" initiative.

The "Think Pink" initiative is a global, unified effort for the WBCA's nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. The week set aside for this year's initiative is February 8 - 17.

"The WBCA is very excited to promote an initiative that touches all levels of our membership and unifies them for such a great cause," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "It has been remarkable to watch the support of this initiative grow from 120 teams last year to over 900 teams from a variety for sports for 2008. With the help of each of our members, the women's basketball community and beyond can make a difference in the fight against breast cancer."

Despite two mastectomies years apart, my grandmother, the strongest woman I've ever known, died of breast cancer a few years ago. I got involved in covering women's hoops to honor my Granny. She always told me "To be the best I can be at whatever I choose." (I remember being a smartass kid and responding back to her "Even if it means robbing a bank?" Granny didn't miss a beat and replied, "Even robbing a bank. Don't get caught and never, ever do it again."

I don't know if I've covered women's basketball to the best of my ability; but, February 9, was filled with women's basketball for me.

Saturday morning, I drove to College Station, TX, to cover the Texas A&M game (11 a.m. tip) against nemesis Texas in the Aggies BTHO (Beat the Hell Outta) Breast Cancer. The Aggies played their best first half of basketball all season and led 39 to 22 at halftime; however, the Longhorns played much better in the second half and pulled as close as four points (59 to 55). But, the Aggies came through down the stretch and won the game 66 to 57.

"In the first half, we played as well as we could," said Aggies head coach Gary Blair. "In the second half, I said, ‘let’s just win the first five minutes.’ We came out and played so sluggish, but Texas was doing the same thing. Somebody was going to wake up and want to win this ballgame along the way and Texas did. We made enough plays down the stretch and Aqua (Franklin) made a lot of good decisions."

After that game, I drove back to Houston and headed to Hofheinz Pavilion to catch the second half of the Houston Lady Cougars game against SMU (2 p.m. tip) . The game was Houston's "Think Pink" game; and, a lot of fans attended the game. The referees used pink whistles in the game and the Lady Cougars wore pink t-shirts over their jerseys.

Unfortunately, UH simply didn't play well in the game. When I arrived at Hofheinz, SMU led 60 to 33 late in the second half; and Houston's starters were seated on the bench. I walked to the courtside area; sat down; and looked at some of the stats. The Lady Cougars trailed SMU 43 to 20 at halftime. Simply put, SMU played well and Houston did not.

"Give SMU credit, they came in here and hit shots," interim head coach Danny Hughes said. "We struggled in the first half to create any sort of consistency offensively and that hurt us. Sometimes, a loss can be a good thing. It helps you re-focus your efforts and continue to get better as a team."

SMU won the game 74 to 51.

The loss ended Houston's eight-game winning streak.

After the Houston game, I stayed at Hofheinz for the Rice - Tulsa game (5 p.m. tip) . (Rice's home court is being renovated; and, since Houston Baptist University's Sharp Gym -- the Owls temporary home this season -- was being used by HBU for their own basketball games, Hofheinz was chosen to host the Owls game against the Golden Hurricane.)

Rice ended a five-game losing skid with a 69 to 59 victory over Tulsa. The Owls, wearing pink shoe laces, played well during the game; however, there were stretches during the ball game which caused me to wonder if the Owls would find a way to lose once again.

Rice freshman post Morgan Mayse scored a career-high 18 points to help Rice win the game.

"I’m very proud of the team for fighting through some things in a game that seesawed back and forth," Owls head coach Greg Williams said. “The team has been working hard and we haven’t hung our heads. Tulsa plays a very good match-up zone. Morgan and Emery (Carter) stepped up on the interior and played physical in the second half with Valeriya (Berezhynska) being in foul trouble."

Three women's hoops games in seven plus hours. Each game involved with the WBCA's "Think Pink" Initiative.

I hope Granny is proud.