On November 20, 2013,[2] less than two months after committing to MSJ, she was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a rare type of brain cancer that normally affects children age 5 to 7.
In September 2014, she had an MRI that revealed that the tumor had grown; at that time, doctors told her and her family that she would probably die before the end of the year.
[7] However, as news spread of Hill's story, the demand for tickets and media credentials was too great for MSJ to accommodate.
[1] The foundation would provide the funds from the event to Cincinnati Children's, where Hill had been undergoing treatment, which at the time was working on an international DIPG registry.
[1] The fundraising efforts went beyond game proceeds; MSJ invited NCAA member schools to donate a #22 jersey.
MSJ had special gray uniforms made for the game, but Benjamin did not tell Hill until the team was in the locker room.
[3] Many local celebrities were in attendance, as were several national sports luminaries—among them Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt, Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson, and WNBA stars Tamika Catchings, Elena Delle Donne, and Skylar Diggins.
Both teams gave Hill a standing ovation, she was presented with the game ball, and was then helped to the bench by her father.
[3] Due to nausea caused by the medication she was taking to control some of the symptoms of her cancer, she spent most of the game on the bench.
With the Lions having the ball with 30 seconds to play and a safe 9-point lead, Benjamin called a timeout and sent Hill back into the game.
One of her teammates rebounded the ball and passed it back to her for a second right-handed layup, which she made to close out the scoring in the Lions' 66–55 win.
ESPN writer Alyssa Roenigk summed up the event:If thoughts and emotions produce energy and that energy can alter an atmosphere, if the power of smiles and hugs and "good afternoons" and "be wells" can build and build until all that positivity overflows to change the molecules of air within a basketball arena, then that is what happened inside the Cintas Center on Sunday.
At a ceremony on November 19 at MSJ, Hill presented a check to TCSN for nearly $59,000, representing only proceeds from the "Play for 22" game.
By that time, funds raised from the game and other initiatives involving Hill, such as the Layup4Lauren challenge and the jersey auction, totaled over $324,000.
[22] Hill remained in good enough health to travel with the team to its next two games on November 21 and 22 in a tournament hosted by Baldwin Wallace University, located near Cleveland.
She played briefly in MSJ's tournament opener, a 69–64 loss[23] to Bethany, scoring two points on a right-handed layup.
At that time, Benjamin sent an email to multiple media outlets stating that Hill would remain on MSJ's bench as an honorary coach as long as her health permitted.
On October 13, 2015, MSJ and Xavier announced the creation of the Lauren Hill Tipoff Classic, intended to be an annual season-opening basketball event.
The inaugural event, held November 14, was preceded by the "2.2M for 22 in 22" telethon, which aired on three major Cincinnati TV stations for 22 hours.
[45][46] On June 11, 2016, Hill received the first "For the Love of the Game" award presented by the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Her college coach at Mount St. Josephs, Dan Benjamin received the award during the WBHOF Induction Ceremony in Knoxville, TN.
Avery Marz, who had planned to start play at Saint Joseph's in 2014, suffered a stroke while moving into her dormitory room that August.
After one of her rehab sessions, Marz returned home to watch coverage of the Hiram–MSJ game, including the Summitt Award ceremony.
She eventually returned to the court for Saint Joseph's in 2017–18, and received the award in March 2018 with Hill's parents and Summitt's son Tyler in attendance.