Courtney McPherson can’t help but think of her mother when she sees one of the trademark pink ribbons.

Now the starting centre for the Brock Badgers women’s basketball team, it was during McPherson’s high school years when her mother Kathy started treatment for breast cancer.

“She found a lump,” McPherson, a Brock Recreation and Leisure Studies student, recalled. “Luckily, she reacted quickly and got a mammogram, followed by a biopsy.”

Brock University will host its Shoot for the Cure game on Friday, Jan. 25 in the Bob Davis Gymnasium.

Kathy’s first chemotherapy treatment came when McPherson’s high school girls basketball team, the Confederation Jaguars, were making their first run to the provincial championships in Cornwall.

It was followed by many more hours of driving from the family home in Welland to Hamilton’s Juravinski Cancer Centre.

With that experience in her memory, McPherson says she’s proud to be part of Brock University’s Shoot for the Cure fundraiser game the women’s basketball team is hosting Friday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. in Brock’s Bob Davis Gymnasium.

The national Shoot for the Cure campaign has proven to be an overwhelming success since it was launched in 2007 with more than $1.25 million in donations to the Canadian Cancer Society’s breast cancer initiatives. The campaign includes all 47 U SPORTS women’s basketball teams.

Successfully fighting cancer wasn’t easy for McPherson’s mother or anyone in the family, but they got through it together. As usual, Kathy will be in the stands cheering for her daughter Friday night.

“My mom loves basketball. I remember seeing her in the stands every single game even though she just started chemo. We won the championship, and I believe it was because we had her cheering us on for every game,” said McPherson, who played for the University of Ottawa and Niagara College before coming to Brock.

An estimated 26,300 Canadian women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.

“Cancer awareness is important to all members of society. It’s one of the worst diseases afflicting our country,” said Brock women’s head coach Mike Rao. “Anything we could do to stop the spread of cancer, we should do. It is our duty as students, athletes and coaches to contribute in these fundraising efforts.”

Pink Badger T-shirts will be for sale to help raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society at Friday’s game and pink ribbons will be available for a small donation.

Across the country, all U SPORTS schools will raise money throughout regular season games and other special events, with the funds being donated during a presentation at the 2019 U SPORTS Women’s Basketball Final 8 tournament at Ryerson in March.

To those families dealing with a cancer fight, Kathy offered some pertinent advice:

“Work together,” she said. “Maintain hope and continue to live.”