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College of Idaho goes 1-1 against Lewis-Clark State, raised awareness through Coaches Vs. Cancer night

Yotes Basketball
Posted at 6:24 PM, Jan 28, 2023
and last updated 2023-01-28 20:24:14-05

CALDWELL, Idaho — The Yotes women's basketball team lost a third-quarter lead to No. 9 ranked Lewis-Clark State College as they dropped their fifth game in a row by a score of 61-58 Friday night. The Men's team picked up their 19th win in a row as they beat LCSC, 74-63.

More important than the outcome of the games was the person sitting on the bench during the Yotes women's game. Jenika Zurita was set to join the Yotes as a freshman this season, but a few months before doing so, she was diagnosed with Leukemia. The illness would delay her college experience. On Friday, she made the trip to Caldwell and sat next to the coaching staff for the game.

The teams wore orange t-shirts during warm-ups, men's guard Jake O'Neil wore neon orange shoes during the game, and all the coaches wore orange laces in their shoes. All to raise awareness for the fight against Leukemia. The Yotes trying to show support for the battle Zurita is going through.

“She’s such a rock star," Said men's head coach Colby Blaine. "We were so excited to be able to support her. She’s gone through a tougher battle than any of us on this court tonight. And to see her here, beating her battle, that gave us a ton of energy and a ton of spirit to come out here and accomplish what we did.”

If the Yotes got 2,000 or more fans in attendance at the game, Men's players Paul Wilson and Caden Handran agreed to shave their heads for the cause. At the end of the game, the team announced that the attendance was 2,014.