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A young woman's dream of playing college basketball has come true – even though she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor a year ago that leaves her just months to live.

Nineteen-year-old Lauren Hill, No. 22 on the Division III Mount St. Joseph University team in Cincinnati, not only played, but scored two baskets, in the opening NCAA game against Hiram College, held by special agreement at Xavier University's 10,000-seat arena on Sunday.

Lauren's cancer affects her balance and coordination, and although she is right-handed, the tumor is more severely affecting her right side, so she has to shoot with her left hand.

She also gets dizzy easily, is very sensitive to harsh lights and loud noise, and can play only a few minutes in a game.

But these difficulties didn't stop Lauren from scoring a left-handed layup for the opening basket of the game and ending the game with a right-handed shot that clinched the victory for her team with a score of 66 to 55.

Both shots elicited a standing ovation for Lauren from the full-capacity crowd of 10,250.

“This game was amazing,” Lauren said, according to an AP report. “It was awesome in every way. It's a dream come true. To play on a college court, to put my foot down on the floor and hear the roar of the crowd – I just love it so much. I love basketball.”

The decision to have this season's opening game between Mount St. Joseph's and Hiram played on November 2, rather than later in the month as the rules stipulate, was made by the NCAA to give Lauren the best possible opportunity to play before her illness progressed.

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Upon hearing of the special exception made for the game, Cincinnati's Xavier University offered its facilities so more people could attend.

Lauren was an active basketball and soccer player in her Lawrenceburg, Indiana, hometown. However, shortly after her 18th birthday she began to feel ill. Tests revealed that cancer had grown throughout her brain, and, as surgery wasn't possible, doctors gave her less than a year to live.

“I try…really hard not to – but it's hard to not think about down the road,” Lauren said about the prognosis.

But she added that her illness has given her the determination to use every opportunity to both play the sport that she loves, and at the same time raise awareness about pediatric cancer and the hope she holds that others in her situation can be helped by continued research.

“We're gonna fight this! That's kind of how I look at it,” Lauren said.

“I'm spreading awareness and also teaching people how to live in the moment because the next moment's not promised. Anything can happen at any given moment. What matters is right now.”

Lauren's mom, Lisa Hill, says that her daughter's determination in spite of her illness is an inspiration to the rest of her family to “seize the day.”

“You try not to concentrate on it too much because you can get caught up in the grief of the sheer fact that you're probably going to lose your child,” Lisa said. “But if I grieve and get depressed and curl up into a ball, I rob myself and her of today.”

Lisa said that though Lauren's dream of playing the opener came true, she isn't likely to stop there and not try to play for her team again.

“She says, 'I hate that. If I can play one more game, I'm playing one more game,'” Lauren's mom said. “If she's upright and able, she'll still be out there.”

Lauren's determination to play basketball while raising awareness about pediatric cancer has led to her jersey number, No. 22, becoming a rallying point in the fight against brain cancer in children.

Mount St. Joseph's basketball coach Dan Benjamin wears a “Play for 22” T-shirt.

Teams and players from across the country have signed and sent Lauren jerseys with number 22 on them.

Professional athletes have taken up Lauren's fundraising online basket-shooting challenge (#Layup4Lauren), similar to the ALS ice bucket challenge, that involves spinning around five times, to induce the dizziness that Lauren experiences, and shooting a layup with the non-dominant hand.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still wore Lauren's name on his eye black, while left tackle Andrew Whitworth had number 22 on his gloves, during Sunday's game against Jacksonville.

Still, whose four-year-old daughter Leah has cancer, and who has worked with the NFL to raise more than $1 million for pediatric cancer treatment, said of Lauren, “It's like she's beyond her years. She understands her purpose. In her 19 years of being here on Earth, she's done a lot more than a lot of older people have done.”

Number 22 basketball jerseys, #Layup4Lauren T-shirts, and other gear to support Lauren Hill and raise funds for pediatric brain cancer research are available from The Cure Starts Now Foundation