NOTRE DAME, Ind. — University of Notre Dame alumna Anne Thompson, NBC News correspondent and breast cancer survivor, will be the featured speaker at the Notre Dame women’s basketball Pink Zone luncheon at 11 a.m.  on Feb. 12 inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.

The luncheon, which will precede the annual Notre Dame women’s basketball Pink Zone game at 2 p.m. that day (vs. Rutgers), is organized by the College of Science to recognize researchers and physicians in the fight against cancer.

Thompson, who is NBC News’ chief environmental affairs correspondent, began her broadcasting career at WNDU-TV in South Bend in 1979. In 2006, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She says her work at NBC was “part of the cure. It gave me purpose. It made me feel normal. 30 Rock became my cancer-free zone.”

The luncheon is organized by the College of Science and the Notre Dame women’s basketball team in conjunction with local physicians James Kelly and Rafat Ansari. The theme of the luncheon will be “Docs in Pink.” Physicians and researchers who fight against breast cancer daily in the hospital or in the lab will be recognized during the luncheon and the game. The women’s basketball team has played a major role in funding the Pink Zone initiative, contributing more than $150,000 to the fundraising effort during the past two years.

Tickets for the luncheon are available through Notre Dame’s Murnane Family Ticket Office by calling (574) 631-7356 or visiting the ticket windows inside Gate 9 (Rosenthal Atrium) at Purcell Pavilion from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.

Tickets are $100 each, or $150 per couple, with corporate tables (10 seats) available for $1,000.

Each ticket includes the luncheon, admission to the basketball game, a pre-game chalk talk by Fighting Irish assistant coach Niele Ivey and refreshments at Club Naimoli during the game.