WISE - - UVA Wise will host its annual Play4Kay Day on Wednesday when the Cavaliers play host to Lenoir-Rhyne in a men's and women's basketball doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m. inside the Prior Center.

The "pink phenomenon" in women's basketball began during the 2004-2005 basketball season, when Coach Yow's cancer recurred after being in remission for 17 years. Play4Kay is the grassroots fundraising initiative of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. It was originally called Think Pink, later Pink Zone, and most recently and finally, Play4Kay. Women's basketball teams wore pink in honor of Coach Yow and those battling cancer. In 2007, this movement resulted in the establishment of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and its Play4Kay initiative.

Coach Kay Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. She passed away in 2009, after a 22-year, on-again, off-again battle with the disease. Coach Yow fought that battle in the public arena. Her hope was to inspire others to make a difference in a fight that impacts each and every one of us.

Her love of basketball started at age 7, and her dedication to the game took her all the way to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. As head coach of the North Carolina State University women's basketball team and past president and founding member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), her voice became a galvanizing force within the sport of women's basketball.

In her 38 years as a college head coach, Coach Yow was one of only six Division I women's basketball head coaches to achieve 700 career victories. She guided her squads to 20 of 27 NCAA Tournaments, 11 trips to the Sweet 16, and a trip to the Elite Eight and the Final Four in 1998. Yow was part of an elite group of nine Olympic coaches chosen to lead USA Basketball in the pursuit of Olympic gold. Additionally, Yow became only the third women's basketball coach in NCAA Division I history to coach 1,000 games with one program.

To make a donation, please visit: Play4Kay