Friday, February 1, 2008

MORAVIAN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM TO PARTICIPATE IN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION'S "THINK PINK" INITIATIVE ON FEBRUARY 9TH

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College women’s basketball team will be participating in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association’s “Think Pink” event on Saturday February 9, 2008 when the Greyhounds host the U.S Merchant Marine Academy. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. in Johnston Hall.

The WBCA’s “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.

In the past, the Moravian women’s basketball team has participated in the Coaches vs. Cancer event by getting pledges and having raffles at one of their games during the season. This season, the women’s program is excited to be a part of the “Think Pink” initiative, and head coach Mary Beth Spirk and assistant coach Amy Endler commented on the importance of participating in this event.

“The WBCA is promoting “Think Pink” and as part of this organization, I want our team to be involved to “assist with the fight,” stated coach Spirk. "Any time we, as in coaches and the basketball team, can be involved in awareness and subsequently fundraising for cancer research, we will be.  Everyone has been affected with this terrible disease unfortunately, friends, family or self, and any help, no matter how small, will go a long way into hopefully one day finding a cure.  It is also a perfect opportunity to bring the Moravian College community together.”

As part of the effort for the "Think Pink" event, the women's basketball team will be selling pink t-shirts, beginning on Friday, February 1st in the Haupert Union Building for fans to wear to the game against U.S. Merchant Marine on Saturday, February 9th.

“I believe that this event is important for the obvious reason of raising money and awareness for breast cancer," said coach Endler. "But on a more local level I think that it is great that a small school like Moravian is getting involved in a program that is nationwide with over 750 schools signed up to participate.  Only two schools in the Landmark Conference are participating in this event (Susquehanna is the other).  Also the fact that we will be wearing pink uniforms will also be special since I don’t think many Division III schools have that opportunity.  Dr. James Frommer, the athletics team physician, and Jessie Coughlin Milner ’99, donated money so we were able to purchase these uniforms.”

On game day, the Greyhounds will be sporting pink uniforms and donations can be made for every assist made during the game. Moravian is currently averaging 12 assists per game. The funds this year will be going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

For more information on the WBCA and the “Think Pink” initiative, check out their website at www.wbca.org/thinkpink.asp.

Did You Know...

• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for all women and the leading overall cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 20 and 59
• In the United States, breast cancer is expected to be newly diagnosed every three minutes, and a woman will die from breast cancer every 13 minutes
• African American women have a higher breast cancer death rate than women of any other racial or ethnic population
  Eighty percent of all breast tumors are benign
• In 2007, it was estimated that there would be 178,480 new cases of breast cancer in women and 2,030 new cases of breast cancer in men. Of these, an estimated 40,460 women and 450 men will die from the disease
• The basic treatment choices for breast cancer are surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and hormonal therapy
• The most common risk factors of breast cancer are sex, age, personal history, family history and breast cancer genes
• The highest risk factor for breast cancer is being female with the disease being 100 times more common among women
  The risk of breast cancer increases as a woman grows older
• Women who have had breast cancer and women with a history of breast disease may develop it again
• The risk of developing breast cancer increases for a woman whose mother, sister, daughter or two or more relatives have had the disease
• Some women and men may be born with a change in one or two genes that are important for regulating breast cell growth. Those who inherit an alteration in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are at an inherited higher risk for breast cancer
• The hormone Estrogen may also play a key role in the risk factors of breast cancer including having an early first period or menstrual bleeding, having a first pregnancy after the age of 25 to 35, having no children and the use of Hormone Replacement Therapy
• Women who begin menstruating before the age of 12 are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer – the more menstrual cycles a woman gets over her lifetime, the more likely she is to get the disease
• Early pregnancies may help to lower the chances of getting breast cancer, but these same hormonal changes may work in reverse and contribute to the incidence of breast cancer after age 35
• Women who experience continuous menstrual cycles until menopause are at a higher than average risk for breast cancer
  Women appear to have an increased risk of breast cancer while they are on Hormone Replacement Therapy which continues for a short time thereafter
• There are several lifestyle choices that individuals can make to help reduce breast cancer risk including decreasing daily fat intake (especially saturated and hydrogenated), increasing fiber, eating fresh fruits and vegetables, limiting alcohol, staying active and not smoking
• The best available method to detect breast cancer early is a mammography screening
• Breast cancer is the most invasive cancer among women in the U.S. accounting for nearly one out of every three cancers diagnosed
• An estimated 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to occur in 2007

*Sources: AstraZeneca – getbcfacts.com
American Cancer Society – cancer.org