Humble Faupel makes MSU-N scoring history

When her four years as a basketball player at Montana State University-Northern are over, Natalee Faupel is going to have a lifetime worth of memories.

There’s been incredible games, incredible friendships, trips to the NAIA national tournament, and incredible achievements — achievements like being named the Frontier Conference MVP and a First-Team NAIA All-American.

But when Faupel, a native of Butte, settles into the next chapter of her life, when playing basketball collegiately is in her past, she’ll be able to look back on Jan. 26, 2017, as perhaps one the most special moments in a career filled with them.

That Thursday night, inside the Armory Gymnasium, Faupel broke Northern’s all-time career scoring record when she made a running shot to her left. The shot put her at 1,567 points for her career, at the time, one ahead of Northern great and current Minot State head coach Sheila Green.

Of course, Faupel continued to add to the record, finishing Northern’s win over UGF with 21 points, while tallying another 16 Friday night against Carroll College.

And yet, when the moment came, when Faupel broke the record, she knew it, but she also wasn’t thinking about it. She was thinking about winning. That’s what the humble former Butte Bulldog has always been about, and that was her focus then and is still her focus going forward.

“The fact that we won the game and we’re 6-3 in conference, that’s going to be the most rewarding thing about tonight,” Faupel said following Northern’s come-from-behind victory.

Yes, records were the furthest thing from Faupel’s mind, even when this season started, even when she knew she would eventually chase down Northern legends like Green, Jodi Kruta and so many others who came before her. No, all Faupel has ever really wanted to do is play basketball and help the Skylights win — something they’ve done a lot during her time at Northern.

“When I came here, I just wanted to play ball,” Faupel said. “I didn’t have really big individual goals for myself. I just wanted to be a part of a team and to keep becoming a better basketball player. Those were my goals. I didn’t really dream that any of these individual things would ever happen. So it’s pretty crazy to think about all that has happened in my time here.”

And so many great things have happened in her time at Northern. The scoring record, All-American and Frontier Conference MVP honors, huge games, trips to the national tournament, and so much more. And her head coach, Chris Mouat has had a front row seat for all of it.

“I’ve coached 12 teams here, and a lot of great players, players who currently hold a lot of records” Mouat said. “And Natalee is special. She’s been on three national tournament teams, she’s played four great seasons on four very good teams. She’s helped us win a ton of games. So her career has already been very, very special, and this record, she deserved it. She went out and earned it and it’s an incredible thing.

“But what I love most about Natalee is this record to her is gravy,” Mouat said. “Because above all else, she’s a winner. That’s what she’s about. And she’s a great teammate. She has scored the most points in this program’s great history, but she does so much more than score for us. To sum it, whatever you ask her to do, whatever we need from her, she goes out and does it, or tries as hard as she can to do get it done. What she’s done for this program goes way beyond just scoring.”

No question about that. Faupel, from the time she arrived at Northern, has been a reluctant superstar. She’s always been a team-first player, even when she’s leading the Frontier in scoring and leading the Skylights in multiple offensive and defensive categories. And even when she’s breaking a record that stood for more than two decades, the humble Faupel is just that, humble.

“Natalee understands the history, she knows about the people she’s passed on that list,” Mouat said. “These are women that have been some of the best to ever wear a Skylight uniform, and Natalee knows that tradition, and she is deservedly a big part of that tradition.

“And that was a big reason why Sheila’s (Green) message to her that we played for her Thursday night, that was so cool, and so such a class move by her,” Mouat added. “It gave me goose bumps listening to it. It was a passing of the torch, and it was a really neat moment for Natalee and for her family, and also for our program. And it really means a lot that Sheila would take time out of her coaching schedule to do that.”

“I’m speechless,” Faupel added. “Whether I ever broke this record or not, to be on the list with these ladies that have bled for this program over the years, it’s just an amazing honor. And it’s an honor to be playing with all the great girls I’ve played with in my time here. That’s something that’s really rewarding about this is sharing it with all of my teammates. That’s really special to me.

“And really, I am speechless,” she continued. “I just told coach (Mouat) the other day, that when I came here, my goals were so much smaller than the things I’ve been able to do. I didn’t really let myself dream that big back then. So for this to happen, this record, and everything we have done as a team in my time here and will continue to do this season, it’s just crazy. It’s just a real honor.”

An honor indeed. But, as Green said in her recorded message to Faupel after Thursday night’s game, Faupel has a lot of season left, and she may just put up so many points that no one will ever break the record again. Who knows, but that’s not what Faupel is after. No, she’s after winning more games, fighting for a Frontier title and going to a fourth consecutive NAIA national tournament. Those this things are what she’s reaching for.

But when it’s all said and done, Jan. 26, 2017, will always be remembered as the night Natalee Faupel became the greatest scorer in Northern women’s basketball history. And Faupel will be remembered as one of the greatest players to every put on a Skylight uniform.