Natalie Murrio knew something must have been up.
Although the Westminster fifth-year senior guard realized she was nearing her school’s all-time scoring record, she said she wasn’t aware how close she was until arriving for the Titans’ game against Chatham Wednesday night at Ron Galbreath Court inside Buzz Ridl Gymnasium in New Wilmington.
“When my whole family and my neighbors and all my friends showed up, I kind of figured,” the 2019 Brentwood graduate said. “I didn’t want to know. I didn’t like the pressure of knowing how close I was. I hit that free throw and everyone was kind of going crazy and I was like, ‘This is so awkward.’”
Needing 16 points, Murrio scored 20 against Chatham to rewrite the Westminster record books. She now sits at 1,488 points in 107 career games and is fifth among all active NCAA Division III players in all-time scoring.
“I wasn’t a 1,000-point scorer in high school,” said Murrio, whose Brentwood team advanced to the WPIAL Class 2A championship game during her senior season. “I don’t even know if I was our leading scorer. It just means a lot. I put in a lot of hard work here at Westminster. Even in high school, my mom always used to get on me, she’d be like, ‘If you put in extra work you’d be so much better than you are.’
“I didn’t really start doing that probably until after my freshman year and I was on the bench, and I did not like that,” Murrio added. “My sophomore year was when I started putting in extra work.”
Coming to understand that mother always knows best has certainly paid off.
Murrio surpassed former Titans all-time scoring leader Emilee Ackerman, a Hempfield product, when she split a pair of free-attempts midway through the third quarter against Chatham.
A 2008 Westminster graduate, Ackerman scored 1,483 points in 109 games.
“Now that it’s out of the way, I guess it’s a little bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Murrio said. “It’s not like I was ever expecting to do something like this. Freshman year, I never would have thought – I never was a big scorer, even in high school and everything – so it’s nice to have it out of the way I guess.”
Westminster coach Rosanne Scott has seen the all-time scoring record change hands several times during her tenure at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference institution located nearly 60 miles north of Pittsburgh – just outside of New Castle.
West Allegheny product Erica Tallo, a 2002 Westminster graduate, scored 1,227 points during her Titans career, while 2005 graduate Robin Thayer registered 1,287 points and 2007 graduate Desiree Sterling notched 1,451 points before Ackerman and Murrio claimed the Titans scoring record under Scott.
“It makes me proud, proud for the program, proud for the players.” said Scott, who began as an assistant at Westminster in 2000 and is now in her 21st season as head coach. “To be in this position, you don’t realize what a great accomplishment this is.”
And that’s especially true for Murrio.
After averaging 5.7 points per game mostly in a reserve role as a freshman, Murrio made a big jump as a sophomore and never looked back.
Murrio averaged 17 points per game as a sophomore. She then led the PAC in scoring as a junior averaging 17.3 points per game before registering a mark of 16.1 points per game as a senior last winter.
The 5-foot-7 guard is averaging 17.1 per game this season, which is second best in the PAC, to go along with her 6.3 rebounds per game, 29 assists, 18 steals and 10 blocks.
“It’s funny, she has always reminded me of Emilee Ackerman because of the way that they play,” Scott said. “She can knock down 3’s. She can post up. She can make outside shots. She can take people off the basket. She’s very versatile that way.
“She’s a winner,” Scott added. “Winners find ways to score and find ways to do what you need to do. I’m very proud of what she’s accomplished.”
For Murrio, however, there is still one major milestone she is looking to accomplish.
“I just want to win a PAC championship,” she said. “We’ve been close my junior year, we lost in the championship. We’ve been to the semifinals every other year. We just want to get over that hump. We want to do it for the team as well as the coaches and everything. We’ve all worked hard for it. We know we can do it, it’s just a matter of getting there and executing.”
Westminster (8-5, 6-3) currently sits in third place in the PAC standings behind Chatham (11-2, 7-1) and Washington & Jefferson (11-2, 7-1).
“I think the second half when we start conference play we need to do a better job of executing,” Scott said. “I think, at times, we need to stay more consistent on the offensive end, executing on that end. Defensively, we are getting better each day with that.”
With a player like Murrio leading her team, Scott said she is optimistic about her team’s chances moving forward.
“Just to watch her develop such as she has as a player and a person and a leader – and the confidence that she has – really has meant a lot to me,” Scott said. “It’s been fun. She’s a lot of fun to be around. She’s a lot of fun to coach, and that’s something I don’t take for granted at all.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.