HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball program will participate in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Pink Zone initiative designed to raise breast cancer awareness in conjunction with its Southland Conference contest versus Nicholls State on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the University Center.

The WBCA Pink Zone initiative is a global, unified effort for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.

The WBCA began the WBCA Pink Zone, formerly known as "Think Pink", in 2007 as an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women's basketball, on campuses and in communities. In 2007, more than 120 schools unified for this effort and helped make the inaugural year a success. In 2008, over 1,200 teams and organizations participated, reaching over 830,000 fans and raising over $930,000 for breast cancer awareness and research.

The Lady Lions first participated in 2008, drawing nearly 1,000 fans for a win over Lamar. With Southeastern supporting the initiative for the second year, Southeastern head coach Lori Davis Jones hopes for the event to continue to evolve.

“We are extremely proud and honored to be able to participate in the Pink Zone initiative again this year,” Jones commented. “Our program, university and community are all very committed
to promoting breast cancer awareness. The game will give us the special opportunity to play our part in the fight against breast cancer, while also showcasing our exciting brand of Division I women's basketball.”

The Lady Lions, who will be sporting special pink uniforms, will honor breast cancer survivors at halftime. Fans in attendance are encouraged to wear a pink shirt to the game and the first 500 fans to arrive at the University Center will receive a free t-shirt courtesy of Entergy and Connie's Impressions.
The Southeastern Student Government Association will provide fans with pink megaphones.

In addition, the Hammond Running Club will sponsor a two-mile fun run in conjunction with the event. Registration for the run will be at 1 p.m. in the area between the University Center and the Alumni Center. The run will commence at 1:45 p.m. The entry fee is $2 and the runners will receive a t-shirt and two tickets to the contest. For more information on the run, contact Bruce O'Krepki at runwithmoose@yahoo.com or bruce.okrepki@selu.edu.

Prior to the game, local country singer Chris Gray will sing the national anthem. Saturday will also be Alumni Day, as the Lady Lions will honor all returning letter winners during halftime.

The Pink Zone initiative has taken on a special meaning in its third year with the passing of North Carolina State coach Kay Yow on Jan. 24. Yow, a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, had battled breast cancer since 1987 and helped raise awareness for the disease. In honor of Yow's memory, Southeastern will donate proceeds to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. Donation cards will be available at the entrance to the contest.

Saturday's game will be broadcast on the Internet only at www.LionSports.net, where live in-game statistics will also be available.

Southeastern (13-9, 5-4 SLC) currently sits in third place in the Southland Conference East Division. The Lady Lions are a game back of division leader Northwestern State and a half game back of second place Stephen F. Austin.

Southeastern is coming off a narrow 58-57 loss at SLC co-leader UTSA last Saturday. Senior guard Charinee Mitchell saw her game-winning three-point attempt rim out at the buzzer to spoil the Lady Lion upset bid.

In Saturday's loss, sophomore guard Chelsea Hix led Southeastern with 13 points, while Mitchell and senior forward Kristy Carlin chipped in 12 points each. Carlin, who ranks eighth on the school's career scoring list with 1,148 points, leads the team with 14.7 points per game. Mitchell (8.6 ppg), junior wing Quantae Thomas (7.8 ppg), junior guard Kim Edmonson (7.7 ppg) and Hix (6.5 ppg) are the top scorers for the Lady Lions, who are averaging 64.4 points per game.

Mitchell and Hix combined for seven of Southeastern's nine three-point field goals. The Lady Lions are eighth in the nation with a league-best 8.0 three-point field goals per game. Mitchell leads the team with 45 treys, followed by Edmonson (43), Carlin (28), Hix (26) and Thomas (25). Southeastern has hit a school-record 176 three-point field goals this season and need 29 treys to break the SLC single-season record. Freshman guard Kelli Jenkins' assist totals have benefited from the hot outside shooting, as she leads the SLC with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Southeastern was able to out-rebound UTSA on Saturday, 36-32, behind nine rebounds from Carlin. The Walker native is ninth in school history with 577 rebounds and leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game. Senior center Adonna Weaver and sophomore forward Zevy Ivory are tied for second on the team with 4.5 boards each, as the Lady Lions lead the SLC with a plus-5.3 rebounding margin per game.

UTSA was the 13th opponent that Southeastern has held under 60 points this season. Southeastern has held opponents to a league-low 57.2 points per game. Mitchell and senior guard Bethany Sinclair are among the league's SLC leaders in steals, while Ivory ranks among the league leaders in blocked shots.

Southeastern will be looking to complete a season sweep of Nicholls State. On Jan. 31, Southeastern rolled to an 85-46 victory over the Colonels, behind 15 points from Mitchell and a career-high 14 points from Weaver. The win was the most lopsided by the Lady Lions over an SLC opponent since joining the league prior to the 1997-98 season.

Nicholls State (1-20, 1-9 SLC) has steadily improved since the loss to the Lady Lions. The Colonels broke through for their first victory of the season on Wednesday, winning 76-74 over Sam Houston State. The Colonels were led by senior forward Christie Bryant's 20 points.

Bryant leads the team with 11.1 points per game. Senior forward Dominique Washington (8.9 ppg) and senior guard Tiffany Jones (8.4 ppg) are the other top scorers for Nicholls State. The Colonels are averaging 51.5 points per contest, while allowing opponents 82.7 points per game.

Bryant also is tops on the team with 5.6 rebounds per contest. Washington is second on the team with 5.0 boards per outing. The Colonels are averaging 34.7 rebounds per contest, while opponents are averaging 44.5 rebounds per game.

Nicholls State has struggled with turnovers, averaging 26.4 giveaways per game. The Lady Lions scored 28 points off 21 NSU turnovers in the season's earlier meeting in Thibodaux.

Southeastern leads the all-time series versus Nicholls State, 51-13. The Lady Lions are 28-4 in Hammond versus the Colonels.

For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit the official website of Southeastern Athletics, www.LionSports.net.

Following Saturday's contest, Southeastern will head to UT Arlington for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday. Wednesday's game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net.