Oct. 14, 1999

Lexington, KY – Tickets for the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge, in which the Kentucky women’s basketball team will face preseason No. 1 Connecticut during the Thanksgiving holiday, go on sale Thursday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m.

The tournament will begin Nov. 24 at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Conn., with Clemson facing Old Dominion at 5 p.m., and Kentucky playing UConn at 7:30 p.m. The consolation and championship games will be played at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Nov. 26.

Tickets go on sale through any Ticketmaster outlet, the Civic Center box office and the UConn box office. The tournament is part of a special six-game Civic Center package priced at $66. Tickets can also be purchased for $36 apiece, which includes two games per night on Nov. 24 and Nov. 26.

A portion of proceeds from the tournament will benefit the America Cancer Society.

“It’s an honor to be able to participate in the inaugural women’s Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “Cancer effects everyone of us in some way or another and we, as a University of Kentucky family, are glad to help raise money to fight this disease.”

To date, Coaches vs. Cancer, an organization that was formed in 1994 to help raise awareness about the dangers of using tobacco, has donated $10.6 million to the American Cancer Society.

Coaches vs. Cancer and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association have signed a five-year agreement to promote women’s basketball. WBCA executive director Beth Bass said 35 NCAA-exempt men’s tournaments exist compared to only eight for women.