Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Not knowing if her grandmother would live long enough to see her high school graduation, Monika Curtis tried on her grad dress for her at the hospice where she was battling the final stages of a rare form of leukemia brought on by chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer.

Sadly, her grandmother Judy Petschulat passed away before she walked up on stage to receive her high school diploma from Mount Boucherie Secondary School in Kelowna, B.C.

It was also just days before younger sister Becca Curtis turned 16.

Both now members of the Griffins women's basketball team this season, the sisters will have their grandmother front of mind when they host Thompson Rivers University in MacEwan's annual Shoot for the Cure game supporting breast cancer research on Saturday (5 p.m.). The teams will also meet on Friday (6 p.m., both games David Atkinson Gym, both Canada West TV presented by Co-op).

"I don't think we were expecting the leukemia to come," said Becca, who joined her sister on the Griffins as a rookie in 2019-20. "We knew she had breast cancer and we knew she was going to beat that battle, but this was something we weren't expecting, so I think it hit the family a lot harder."

The sisters visited their grandmother in hospice a day before she died and she was in good spirits, which made the news the next day all that much more devastating.

"The next day my parents went up to see her and they came back and said that she'd passed away while she was sleeping," said Monika. "So, it kind of surprised us because we just saw grandma the day before and she seemed good.

"She was the lady who was always in such good spirits and she was always trying to see the positive in everything. She would never let us see the negative. She always wanted to put on a brave face for us."

That's their enduring memory of their grandma – her positivity in the face of adversity. Part of the bad hand she was dealt included years of battling the challenges of Multiple Sclerosis.

"She was always the person that in any bad situation, she'd see the positive," said Monika. "She had MS as well, so she was really sick. You would never even know. She was just the happiest person. She dealt with it. She never complained. Even when she was going through all of her chemo, she never complained to us. We tried to do the best that we could for her.

"It's easy to get down on yourself, especially in sports," she added. "Sometimes I think 'grandma was way worse off than I was, so I think I can perk myself up and see the brighter side of things.' "

Becca adopts a similar strategy when dealing with the challenging transition from high school to university student-athlete.

"I always think what advice would she give me? If I'm having an off day in basketball or school, it's just 'you did the best you could. You're working the hardest you can. Don't get down on yourself. It's just a bad day,' she explained. "She'd always remind us it's just a bad day, it's not a bad life."

Becca Curtis leans on her grandmother's positive outlook on life to help her navigate the challenges of being a rookie student-athlete at MacEwan (Jefferson Hagen photo).

Because of cancer's far-reaching wickedness, affecting far too many people on this earth, almost every member of the Griffins has a story and will be playing for someone special on Saturday night.

"I think it just shows in my four years here we've been able to highlight four players who've been impacted by cancer or breast cancer," said Griffins head coach Katherine Adams. "It really goes to show that it impacts us all and it's a cause that's close to home."

Last season, more than $97,000 was raised by U SPORTS member institutions during Shoot for the Cure games – which run all season across the country – with more than $1.3 million raised for the Canadian Cancer Society and other related provincial and local charities since the initiative began in 2007 as the brainchild of then Bishop's women's head coach Rod Gilpin.

To donate online, click here.

"I think it's a good day to remember those who've passed, those who are still fighting and those who've beat it," said Monika. "It's a big thing. It does affect so many people. I think it's good that we're acknowledging it and playing in spirit for those who've beat it and those who've passed."

"I think U SPORTS has done a great job of acknowledging it and promoting it and getting the word out about how many have been affected by it."

On the court, the weekend is an important one for the Griffins (1-3), who are nursing a three-game losing streak. To beat the 3-1 WolfPack, they'll have to get back to the basics after their fundamentals deserted them in back-to-back lopsided losses to U SPORTS No. 1 Saskatchewan last weekend.

"We pride ourselves on being a tough, gritty defensive team and this past weekend showed us we have to get back to the basics of defending one on one to help our team be solid behind the ball," said Adams. "And we need to show the level of compete and tenacity needed to play at the highest level. If you're not ready to play every moment, every possession, teams capitalize.

"I think that's something we can walk away with moving forward – every moment matters, every possession matters. And we have to be at our best."