DeKALB — Rather than being able to focus on her time with friends and family, the holiday break marked the beginning of something bigger for Paulina Castro, women’s freshman guard.

Prior to break, Castro was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer that attacks the immune system.

Head Coach Lisa Carlsen said she revealed the news to her teammates during break in a teary-eyed exchange, but Castro’s strength and positive attitude toward the diagnosis inspired teammates to rally around her.

The mental strength of Castro should not come as a surprise as the freshman came into NIU as an Illinois High School Association 3A state champion, First Team all-state selection in 2014-2015 and led multiple teams to three sectional titles.

Carlsen said nobody would ever want to receive news of this caliber, but said Castro has always been a fighter and this is what she and her teammates will have to do.

“[Castro] never appears down, and I’m sure that there’s times that she is, but in front of the team or in front of people she cares about she’s always continued to stay positive knowing that it is going to be her best mindset in the fight,” Carlsen said. “The thing that I love most about her as a person [is] her fight and her determination, which are all the things that are going to make her successful and win this fight against something bigger.”

The team has shown its support by wearing purple, the color for lymphoma awareness. Before games, the team wears warm-up jerseys with ‘No one fights alone’ written across the front and ‘#PCStrong’ on the back, along with some players dyeing their hair purple, wearing purple ribbons and purple shoe laces.

Assistant Coach Kierra McCleary shaved her head in support of Castro, which then inspired senior guard Ally Lehman to do so as well. Lehman said she sees it as an obvious act to do something small for the freshman guard. Lehman said it has triggered the team’s focus on the court to play for something bigger than just winning a basketball game.

Lehman said she thought it was a gutsy move for Castro to cut her hair, and was inspired by McCleary also cutting her hair.

“For me, it’s just hair,” Lehman said. “If I can help her in any way, if I can even get a smile, then it’s completely worth it.”

Carlsen said Castro’s plan is to stay enrolled in school, which will continue to bring normalcy to her life. She still attends practices and games whenever possible and Carlsen always has something for her to do.

Lehman noted Castro is all business and rarely ever mentions what she is going through. Other than giving her teammates a status update on the cancer every once in awhile, Castro acts as if she cares more about the team and how they can be the best basketball team they can be.

“She doesn’t talk about the cancer unless we’re in a team meeting and it’s just to give us an update,” Lehman said. “Other than that, it’s positive with things like ‘Who do we got next?’ and ‘What are we going to do to beat them?’”

Although this is just the beginning of Castro’s journey, she has already inspired her teammates, coaches and the Huskie family to be #PCStrong.

On social media, ‘#PCStrong’ and ‘#PlayForP’ have been used as an inspiration by the Huskie family.

“She is heavily involved and it makes you wonder what it’s like to be that strong,” Lehman said.