But there was absolutely no way Shayla Fields and Khadijah Whittington were going to permit another disappointment Sunday.

Fields scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Wolfpack to a 60-41 victory over Boston College at its third annual "Hoops for Hope," a breast cancer awareness and fundraiser event that has inspired a nationwide campaign involving more than 900 schools.

For the game, the Pack wore special pink uniforms designed by Nike. A number of schools are playing in pink during the "Think Pink" period, but the Wolfpack's had a twist.

On the back of every jersey, the Pack players all wore the same name -- Yow.

N.C. State started "Hoops" in 2006 after Pack coach Kay Yow suffered a recurrence in her breast cancer. The event has grown each year.

"All we've been talking about before this game was getting it for Coach Yow," Fields said. "We got Yow on the back of our jerseys because we knew this day was for her. All we wanted to do was go out and play our hardest and just show her that we're behind her and we're fighting for her."

Boston College jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and for the Pack, beating the Eagles (17-7, 5-4 ACC) was important from a physiological standpoint. Earlier in the week, Yow said she thought her team's ACC season got off track with its 60-59 loss at Boston College on Jan. 6.

Nikitta Gartell put the Pack on the board with two made free throws and then Whittington set an aggressive tone.

Whittington emerged after winning a jump ball and screamed at her teammates. Just three minutes into the game and Whittington's face said everything. She wasn't happy with the effort and nothing would be allowed to spoil the day.

And like a switch flipping, the Wolfpack (15-9, 3-6) suddenly turned itself on. Fields led a 15-9 run that put the Pack ahead. Amber White came off the bench and harassed the Eagles' guards into turnovers on three straight possessions.

The Pack's defense was primarily responsible for the 10-0 run that closed out the half. Boston College didn't score a bucket for the final 7:23 of the first half.

State kept up its defensive intensity, stealing 19 of BC's 30 turnovers in the game. The Eagles also shot 34.7 percent from the floor, allowing the Pack to coast down the stretch.

The victory capped another big turnout for the "Hoops" event, which is the centerpiece of the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association's "Think Pink," a 10-day period where schools raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

"Hoops" takes "Think Pink" to another level. Nike outfitted the Pack from head-to-toe with the pink uniforms, "Think Pink" white-and-pink shoes, pink hairbands.

N.C. State's College of Textiles created the special warm-ups wore by Yow, her coaches and staff. Designed by Tony award winner William Ivey Long, the white warm-up incorporated the logo of the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

For a $5 donation to that fund, fans got a special pink N.C. State shirt donated by Nike. An hour before the game, the table around the Yow fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research was so packed that people had trouble moving around it on the concourse.

While awareness is a big part of "Hoops," the money raised by the event is the most tangible. Before Yow left the court at the half, Tennessee assistant coaches Holly Warlick and Nikki Caldwell surprised her with a $10,000 check for the Yow fund. During halftime, N.C. State presented the local affiliate of Komen for the Cure with a check for $42,400.

That figure doesn't include money raised by T-shirt sales or donations coming in during the next month.

For Yow, the event was fully satisfying, but she would like see "Hoops" fulfill her ambition of being a hard-to-get ticket -- 8,081 fans attended the game.

"It would be total support for every survivor and every person battling cancer," Yow said. "I think that we would do it if people really and truly understood how much support means, and what a lift their being here does for survivors."