When the Fresno State women’s basketball team wears pink on Wednesday to raise awareness for breast cancer, two players will take the court with their mothers in mind.
Junior guards Bree Farley’s and Robin Draper’s mothers have fought and beat the disease.
“It’s a special game just to raise awareness,” Farley said. “I think everyone on the team, if it’s not personally, knows at least someone who’s going through the battle or lost it or has come through. It’s definitely close and personal, but I’m one of the lucky ones.
Farley’s mother was diagnosed at age 40. Only 5 years old at the time, Farley was not aware of the seriousness of her mother’s illness.
“I remember her being sick a lot,” Farley said. “She would send us off to school and be there when we got back. I don’t know how she did it, really. She was just phenomenal with her strength.”
It wasn’t until she was 12 that Farley understood how serious breast cancer was. After being introduced to people who lost their mothers to the illness, Farley’s eyes were opened.
“I was like wow, if things went a different way, mom might not be here anymore,” Farley said. “That’s when it really hit me how serious it was.”
For Draper, wearing the pink jersey has more meaning due to her personal experience having her mom battle the disease.
“I know how much it means to my mom to see me wear [the jersey],” Draper said. “It makes me feel more important.”
Draper was an infant when her mom was diagnosed. She was unaware about the illness until her parents told her, but growing up, she remembers her mom’s positive attitude.
“It’s inspiring to me to know that she went through that, and a bunch of women can’t go through it,” Draper said.
Preparing for Nevada
As the Bulldogs face the Nevada Wolf Pack, there is a statistic that will be on their minds: 10-1. That would have been their conference record without losses to San Jose State, Nevada and San Diego State — all by a total of six points.
“I think we have to really stay confident in that we’re doing a lot of things right,” said Fresno State head coach Raegan Pebley.
The Wolf Pack defeated the Bulldogs 63-60 in their last matchup Jan. 22. Now, halfway through the conference schedule, Fresno State is looking to avoid miscues that could cost it a win.
“Nevada is arguably the scrappiest, hardest-working team in the conference,” Pebley said. “It has a lot of veteran leadership in the guard position. That’s a team where we have to rely on our leaders. We need to match that experience.”
That will not be easy for the Bulldogs, as two of their experienced players are battling injuries. Junior forward Alex Sheedy continues to rehabilitate a bad leg, while senior guard Taylor Thompson is recovering from a very physical game at San Jose State.
“I think a benefit of having a couple of players dinged up is we’ve been able to really see some players get some great experience,” Pebley said. “When you head into the conference tournament, that’s going to really prove itself when you have to go and play anywhere between three and four games in a row to get to the NCAA Tournament.”
Pebley says that Thompson’s practice will be managed to ensure that she is ready for the Nevada game. Sheedy, on the other hand, is not ready but is nearing a comeback.
With three straight road losses, Fresno State is looking forward to returning home, where it is 4-1 in conference games.
“We have to create situations where we’re home, we’re able to utilize our fans and really capitalize off the Save Mart Center,” Pebley said.
