Northwood Basketball to Sponsor "Pink Zone" Day

MIDLAND, Mich. - This Saturday, February 20, the Northwood University basketball teams are sponsoring “Pink Zone Day” to raise breast cancer awareness. The Timberwolves are taking on Ashland in a pair of key GLIAC matchups in the Bennett Center.

As part of the festivities, all fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game. Any fans wearing pink can get a free box of popcorn at the concession stand. In addition, several “pink promotions” will take place with Pink Zone t-shirts among the prizes. The Northwood players will be wearing Pink Zone t-shirts during warm-ups, as well as pink shoelaces during the games. Northwood coaches will also be donning pink for the doubleheader.

The WBCA's "Pink Zone" 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. More than 1,250 women's basketball teams and supporting organizations are participating in some way during the WBCA's "Pink Zone" initiative in 2010. Additionally, the GLIAC is also committed to the fight against breast cancer by encouraging support for the "Pink Wave" campaign throughout its member league institutions.

To help celebrate, the Saginaw High School pep band will be playing throughout the day, and the Parkdale Elementary Jump Rope team will performing at halftime of the men’s game. Saturday is also Senior Day at Northwood as the Timberwolves’ seniors are playing in their final regular season home game.

Both games have major post-season implications as Northwood and Ashland are battling for berths in the GLIAC tournament. On the women’s side, Ashland sits at 12-11 overall and 8-10 in the league, while the Timberwolves are 11-11 overall and 7-11 in conference play. Both are in position to make one of the eight tournament spots with four games remaining but both need a strong finish to secure tournament berths. In January the Timberwolves pulled off a huge, 77-67, road win at Ashland, storming back from 11 points down in the second half.

The men’s game has equal post-season significance as both the Timberwolves (11-11, 8-10 GLIAC) and Eagles (12-11, 8-10 GLIAC) are in a heated, five-school race for the final two tournament spots. Along with Wayne State, the two teams are in a three-way conference tie at 8-10 with four games to go. Two other teams, Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan are just a game back at 7-11. The winner of Saturday’s game between Northwood and Ashland will take a big step in securing one of the final two spots.

The women’s game tips off at 1:00, followed by the men’s game at 3:00. Tickets for Saturday’s double header are just $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for students.