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Xavier, Mount St. Joseph to launch the ‘Lauren Hill Tip-Off Classic’

Lauren Hill

AP

AP

Lauren Hill

AP

AP

We needed a story like this today.

Xavier and Mount St. Joseph announced on Wednesday that the two schools will honor the memory of the late-Lauren Hill by launching the ‘Lauren Hill Tip-Off Classic’.

The event is a double-header that will be held annually to kick-off the season for the women’s basketball teams for both Xavier and Mount St. Joseph. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, Nov. 14th, at the Cintas Center, Xavier’s home arena. Xavier will play Evansville while Mount St. Joseph, a Division III program, will play Hiram College.

Hill was a freshman on the Mount St. Joseph team last season despite the fact that she was battling a terminal form of brain cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG. She tragically passed away in April, but not before her fight, and the publicity it generated, raised $1.8 million for a foundation called ‘The Cure Starts Now', a non-profit charity that aids the fight against pediatric cancer.

Proceeds from the Lauren Hill Tip-Off Classic will be donated to The Cure Starts Now.

Hill’s story went viral last fall, when the NCAA allowed Mount St. Joseph to play their season-opener -- also against Hiram College -- two weeks early. It was Hill’s dream to play college basketball, and no one was sure whether or not she would be able to after waiting two more weeks.

She scored four points in that game against Hiram. And she went on to play in three more games, finishing her career with 10 points.

“A year ago, I, like many, watched one of the most unselfish players take the floor for her first college basketball game,” said Hill’s coach, Dan Benjamin. “As I think back, what an amazing player, person and teammate Lauren Hill was! On Nov. 14, we will continue her legacy and honor her for everything she stood for! Love you No. 22 and miss you! Help all of us to roar loud and continue your mission.”