Feb. 8, 2008

Rutgers will unveil pink uniforms on Monday night for its rematch with Tennessee in honor of the second annual "Think Pink" campaign by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

The Scarlet Knights are just one of the more than 850 women's basketball teams at the college, high school and AAU level supporting the Feb. 8-17 national effort to raise breast cancer awareness. The teams will be decked out in pink uniforms, shoelaces, warmups, shoes. Coaches will wear pink as well.

"In late September when Nike first approached us about wearing pink uniforms for the game at Tennessee, I asked the girls to vote on it as a team. They all wholeheartedly agreed," said Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer, who is a breast cancer survivor. "It is a wonderful opportunity to show support for the thousands of women who are either battling breast cancer or have survived this horrible disease."

Rutgers star Essence Carson has also been effected by cancer as her mother, Stacey Robinson, was afflicted by the disease last winter.

LSU, Georgia and N.C. State are among the other schools that will be wearing pink uniforms.

NC State coach Kay Yow, who is going through her third bout with breast cancer, served as the catalyst for launching the "Think Pink" initiative. In only its second year, the program has grown from 120 teams. Not only are women's teams involved. Fifteen men's programs are also lending their support.

"It's miraculous how a woman like Kay Yow could galvanize close to 900 teams from all different levels for one cause," said Beth Bass, chief executive of the coaches association. "The good news is that so many teams are involved, the bad news is that breast cancer resonates across the board with everyone."

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SUPER DAD: Like 94 million other people, Duke basketball player Joy Cheek watched the Super Bowl last Sunday. However, she was rooting for more than just the Giants and Patriots.

Cheek's father, Boris, was officiating in his first Super Bowl. The 12-year veteran was a field judge in the Giants' 17-14 victory over the Patriots.

"It was a big deal to see him because I had never seen him on TV before," the Duke forward said. "I was so proud of him as it was something he was working really hard to do. It was a big goal for him to get to the Super Bowl. I was just happy to see him out there and finally make it to a Super Bowl. It was pretty cool."

She was ecstatic to finally see him on TV.

"I was acting like I'd never seen him before," she said. "I was like 'That's my dad! That's my dad!"'

Brandon Cheek flew back after the game Sunday night to see his daughter in action on Monday against North Carolina. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils lost 93-76.

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AMERICAN IDOL: St. John's guard Kia Wright had one of her best games of the season last Saturday when the Red Storm beat Marquette 77-67. Wright scored 21 points, but admitted she was a little nervous seeing WNBA star Lisa Leslie sitting courtside watching the game.

Leslie was in town to help St. John's promote Women in Sports Day.

"It was a little nerve-racking. I looked over and Lisa Leslie is sitting, watching St. John's play. The last (WNBA) player that came here (for Women in Sports Day) was Kim Hampton and she retired a long time ago. (Leslie is) amazing. I've watched her play, she's the first woman to dunk in the WNBA. To have her at our game and for her to talk to us means a lot."

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HONORING DORON: Maryland will honor former star Shay Doron before Friday's game against Virginia. She was coach Brenda Frese's first recruit at Maryland and helped the Terrapins win the 2006 NCAA championship.

"This is a magical moment for us. When we look up and see Shay's name and number it will represent the dawning of the next great era of Maryland women's basketball," Frese said. "We're proud that her name will share the same space as previous Maryland greats and we're excited for the future when more names will be added. For me personally, it is especially touching because Shay took a chance and believed in me and our program."

A four-year starter, Doron ended her career ranked second in the program in scoring with 1,878 points. She currently ranks third, and is one of three players in Maryland women's basketball history to have scored at least 1,800 points.

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A TOUGH QUESTION: Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer was in a tough spot. Her team led big against Santa Clara in a non-conference game Tuesday night and she wanted to sit down her starters. But the Broncos kept creeping back and VanDerveer debated whether to put star senior Candice Wiggins into the game again.

VanDerveer has seen enough serious knee injuries to think hard about such moves, even in garbage time. Before the 96-74 victory Tuesday for the sixth-ranked Cardinal, VanDerveer had greeted Santa Clara star Chandice Cronk, lost for the rest of her senior season to a knee injury last weekend.

VanDerveer has already had two of her players undergo knee surgery this season for torn anterior cruciate ligaments: Michelle Harrison and Melanie Murphy. That's after point guard JJ Hones hurt her knee last season and needed surgery, and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude before that.

California has dealt with it, too, losing point guard Alexis Gray-Lawson last year.

Then, Tennessee All-American Candace Parker hyperextended her knee Thursday night in a win over Mississippi State.

"You don't see men's games, college or pro, when a team is up 20 or 30 taking their starters out," VanDerveer said. "With the ACL epidemic, sometimes I sub too early."

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LOOSE BALLS: Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer and Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt will appear at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday. The Hall of Fame coaches, Stringer was inducted in 2001 and Summitt in 1999, will kick off the Hall's "Get Kids in the Game" event. The duo will participate in one-hour autograph session. Anyone who donates a basketball to the "Get Kids in the Game" initiative during that time will have the opportunity to get an autograph from the two coaches. ... LIU coach Stephanie V. Gaitley picked up her 400th career win with a 57-53 victory over Wagner on Monday. ... Maryland's 21-point comeback against Virginia Tech tied for the third-largest deficit overcome by a team ever in the NCAA. ... Iowa coach Lisa Bluder won her 499th game when the Hawkeyes beat Michigan State on Thursday. Bluder will go for her 500th victory on Sunday against Penn State.

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AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.