Washington women’s basketball head coach Tia Jackson has several reasons to take this year’s Pink Zone Initiative personally.

Designed to raise cancer awareness, Pink Zone — formerly Think Pink — is organized by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and Jackson’s friend, the late Kay Yow, former head coach of North Carolina State University, was one of its founding members.

“Coach Yow is a remarkable icon for women’s basketball, she’s one of the pioneers,” Jackson said. “Having been someone who’s gone to her camp to grow up under her tutelage as a coach, [I] have a great deal of respect for her.”

Yow passed away Jan. 24 of breast cancer, and the UW players wore their Pink Zone uniforms with the letters “4Kay” in place of their last names to honor Yow when the Arizona schools came to town a week later.

“I think it’s unfortunate [Yow] had to deal with breast cancer, but I think because of her name, many people will wake up and understand the importance of it even more so,” Jackson said.

Yow is not the only person close to Jackson who was affected by cancer.

“I’ve had people close to me in my life — in addition to coach Yow ­— suffer from not just breast cancer but cancer, period,” Jackson said.

Jackson is not alone. Senior forward Heidi McNeill has a relative who had a bout with cancer.

“My grandmother is a survivor of breast cancer, so this [event] is pretty close to me,” McNeill said.

This season will be the second in which the women’s basketball team will participate in Pink Zone, and it is taking several steps to raise cancer awareness and money for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. For starters, Husky players and coaches will be wearing pink all around at this weekend’s games.

“Pink uniforms, pink shoelaces, pink hair ties, all that kind of stuff,” senior guard Michelle Augustavo said.

And it’s not just good for awareness; McNeill also likes the pink fashion.

“I think we look good in pink,” McNeill said. “With our jerseys, it looks really good with the purple and white and gold.”

Unfortunately for McNeill, she won’t be able to keep her jersey. McNeill’s uniform will be auctioned off at the end of the year, with proceeds going to Kay Yow’s fund.

“Rumor has it that one of my last jerseys went for $500, so maybe it will go somewhere up there,” McNeill said. “Hopefully it can bring a lot of money to support the whole cause.”

McNeill’s jersey may not be the only Husky team item being auctioned off.

“This isn’t 100 percent confirmed, but most likely [we’ll be auctioning off] coach Jackson’s pink shoes that she’ll be wearing,” said Amy Wilson, an assistant director of marketing for Intercollegiate Athletics.

The Huskies hope fans will get involved in Pink Zone as well. The first 500 fans at both games this weekend will receive a “Real Dawgs Wear Purple ... and Pink” t-shirt and fans are encouraged to wear pink in general.

Fans who donate $10 or more will also receive a free ticket to a Husky softball or baseball game and be entered for various prizes. Fans who buy a pink item at the team shop will also receive a ticket to either the UCLA or USC game this weekend.

“We’ll [also] have some Seattle-area cancer organizations on the concourse with tables with informational flyers that fans can pick up,” Wilson said. “We’ll be accepting donations that would go to Kay Yow’s WBCA Cancer Fund.”

While this is the second year involved with Pink Zone, this is the first year the Huskies will be working with the Kay Yow Fund.

Reach reporter Honsen Lin at sports@dailyuw.com.