Natalie Romeo

Natalie Romeo (pronounced ROW-MEE-Oh) was born on March 11, 1996, in Walnut Creek, California. Natalie is an American basketball player at the University of Washington. She completed her high school education at Carondelet High School, an all girls' school located in Concord, California.

Early life

Romeo is the daughter of Maria and Vince Romeo. She has an older sister, Camille, and a younger brother, Vinnie. Natalie grew up in Martinez, California.

High school career

Romeo was not only a top point guard recruit coming out of California, but she was regarded as one of the nation's best. ESPN ranked her as the 9th best point guard in the nation for the class of 2014, along with giving her a 5-star rating. Evaluators gave her such a high rating because of her well rounded game. She is a true point guard who does a great job of finding her teammates while also being a lethal scorer. Romeo is also great on the defensive game, all of which can be seen in her senior year statistics.

In Romeo's senior year, she averaged 19.8 points, 7.8 assists and 5.6 steals per game while captaining Carondelet to an appearance in the 2014 CIF state semifinals. That same year she also led the Cougars to the North Coast Section Division II title for the fourth consecutive season. In the championship game, she led her team to victory by recording an impressive 21 points, 4 rebounds, 5 steals, 9 assists, and only 2 turnovers. Carondelet ended the season ranked 13th in the nation with a record of 27-4, 13-1 in the league. Romeo also had a 2.9-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (250-87) in the 32 games played senior year. She also averaged an unheard of 4.81-to-1 steal-to-foul ratio (178-37).

Most know Romeo today to primarily score from behind the three point line; however, this was not the case in high school. During her senior year, she shot 30% from beyond the high school arc, making 55 of 183 three-point attempts in the year. She shot the lowest percent on her team of anyone attempting at least 50 three-point field goals. This is a testament to the amount of work Romeo has put in to become one of college basketball's best three-point shooters.

As a senior, Romeo was the North Coast Section Player of the Year, the Cal-Hi Sports Player of the Year, and the East Bay Athletic League MVP.

2012-13: Junior - Romeo averaged 21.3 points, 6.5 assists and 6.2 steals per game to help the Cougars to a third straight North Coast Section Division II title. She earned EBAL MVP honors, while also leading Carondelet to a top 20 national ranking. She was also the North Coast Section Player of the year as well as the East Bay Athletic League MVP. Carondelet finished the year with a 27-4 record, 13-1 in the league.

2011-12: Sophomore - Romeo averaged 16.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 4.6 steals per game, guiding her team to both North Coast and EBAL titles. Carondelet finished with a dazzling 27-4 record while being a perfect 14-0 in league play. Romeo was named the MVP of the Holiday Classic and was an all-tournament selection at the Trojan Shootout. Just like her freshman year, she was an All-EBAL first team selection.

2010-11: Freshman - Romeo led Carondelet to EBAL and North Coast championships while finishing as runner-up in the California state championships. Carondelet also finished No. 43 nationally. Romeo averaged 11.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.2 steals per game. Romeo was the only freshman named All-EBAL first team. Carondelet finished the year 28-6, 14-0 in the league, and ranked top 20 nationally.

Natalie Romeo finished her high school career as a 4-year starter, and a 109 win 18 loss record. 54-2 in league play. She compiled 2,15 career points, second only to current WNBA player, Jayne Appel, in school history. Romeo also recorded a school record 735 assists and 613 steals to go along with 552 rebounds.

USA Basketball

FIBA 3x3 World Championships 2016

Romeo was hand selected by USA basketball to participate in the 3x3 National Championships along with Chatrice White (Florida State), Alexis Jennings (South Carolina), and Linae Harper (Ohio State). The team of college students competed in Colorado in August 2016 for a chance to qualify for the World Championships in China. The team had no prior experience playing together which led to them getting off to a sluggish start. In the open qualifying tournament played on August 25, 2016, Romeo and team "DEFEND" finished 2-1. Though not perfect, the team still advanced to the 2016 3x3 Open National Tournament played two days later. Team DEFEND lost their first game of pool play to the tournament favorites the UNKNOWNS, the same team that beat Romeo two days prior. Team DEFEND followed up their defeat with another loss, getting blown out by team ARIEL 21-10. Romeo and team DEFEND then needed to win their remaining three games of pool play, which they did in impressive fashion with a combined score of 63-21. Team DEFEND was firing on all cylinders and ready to make a run in the elimination rounds. In the quarterfinals, Romeo's team dominated for a 21-5 victory. The semifinal game pitted team DEFEND with a rematch of their prior 11 point defeat vs. Team ARIEL. This time Team DEFEND was all business, ousting Team ARIEL 21-12. Romeo and Team DEFEND were rewarded with none other than the tournament favorites, Team UNKNOWNS in the finals; the same team that already beat Romeo twice throughout the competition. Team DEFEND did not back down in the back and forth, hard fought championship game. With a trip to China on the line, Romeo's team improbably pulled out a 19-17 victory to win the USA National Tournament and qualify for the World Championships in Guangzhou, China.

The 2016 FIBA 3x3 World Championships were played in Guangzhou, China October 11–15. Team USA was the only team composed entirely of college students. The team got off to a hot start defeating Italy(21-14), Japan(21-12), and Chinese Taipei(17-8) before falling in their last game of pool play to Spain(16-21). Team USA bounced back by defeating Argentina in the quarterfinals of the tournament by a score of 17-5. Team USA faced a tough Czech Republic team in the Semi-Finals who's average age was 27.25 years. The Americans fell in a back and forth game 21-18 sending them to the third-place game. Team USA faced the same Spain team that defeated them earlier in pool play by five points. The Americans handily defeated Spain by a score of 20-14 to win the bronze medal. The Czech Republic won the finals in a 21-11 romp of the Ukraine. Romeo finished second on her team in scoring averaging 4.4 points per game and a total of 31 for the tournament. Alexis Jennings led the way for the Americans with her size and inside presence.

Romeo also competed in the Shoot-Out Contest, an individual competition in which only one member of each team could compete in. This event combined both men and women totaling 40 competitors. The first day was used to determine which four competitors would qualify for the finals on the next day. The format of qualification was the following: each player attempted 10 shots, all worth one point, from the top of the arc, without a time limit. In event of a tie, the player who shot the quickest would advance. Players are only given one attempt. Romeo qualified by making 5 shots in 25 seconds.

The shootout finals were modified from the qualifiers. Competitors would now take 18 shots from four different locations: five from the right wing, five from the top of the arc, five from the left wing, and three from the 3x3 logo which was located roughly 30 feet from the rim. Shots from around the arc were worth 1 point, while shots from the 3x3 logo were worth 2 points. In the case of a tie (same points and time), the tied players would shoot again. Players were only given one attempt.

Romeo finished the finals in third place, winning the bronze medal. She fell to Angel Santana (Romania Men's) and Paula Palomares (Span Women's) who won the gold and silver respectively.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Freshman year

Romeo played in just four games to start her college career before being sidelined with a foot injury. The injury caused her to miss games from November 28 to January 3, a crucial chunk for developing freshmen. In her first three games back, Romeo averaged just 3.6 points per game before getting her first collegiate start at Penn State on January 15, 2015. In that start she posted a then career-high 18 points, which was also the game high. She went 6 for 11 from deep in the game. It was at that point that Nebraska Head Coach Connie Yori knew she had something special. It was not until February 8 that Romeo solidified her starting role at the Point Guard position, starting the final 10 games of her freshman season. The longer the season went on, the better and more important Romeo became to the Huskers, who were at one point ranked number 12 in the country. As a starter, she averaged 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while knocking down 3.3 three-pointers per game shooting it at 38.5% from deep.

In her two Big Ten tournament and one NCAA tournament games, Romeo averaged 38.3 minutes, 18.3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. She posted a then career high of 26 points going 7 of 11 from deep in her first ever post season game vs. Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. The 7 three pointers tied a school record for most in a single game and set the record for a Nebraska tournament game. She shot 11 of 22 (50%) from three during the Big Ten tournament, Romeo's 11 threes shattered Nebraska's record for a conference tournament and tied NU's career Big Ten Tournament record. In the first NCAA tournament game of her career vs. Syracuse, Romeo hit a Nebraska NCAA single game record 5 3pt field goals in a 72-69 loss.

Natalie Romeo finished her freshman campaign with averages of 9.0 points 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in 24 games.

Even though she played in only 24 games, Romeo's 51 threes ranked as the second-highest total by a freshman in school history, only trailing Jordan Hooper's 67 in 2010-11. Hooper started 31 games that season.

Down 1 with only a minute left, Romeo caught the ball in the corner vs. Illinois on January 29. She scored a clutch three to give Nebraska a 59-57 lead, their first of the game.  That score held up to be the final. She also made four clutch free throws in the final 30 seconds of regulation to seal Nebraska's win at Indiana on February 21.

Sophomore year

There was no sophomore slump for Romeo; she followed up a stellar freshman campaign by improving in every facet of her game. In the first game of her sophomore season, she set a Nebraska Cornhusker scoring record for a season-opening game with 30 points. She also got 4 assists in only 26 minutes of play vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff on November 14, 2015. She was lethal from behind the arc, hitting 6 of 9 threes. She became a leader both on and off the court for the Huskers, and was named to the All-Big Ten second team as well as Nebraska's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner. Romeo was also a proud recipient of academic Big Ten honors.

With two senior guards suffering season ending injuries it was up to Romeo to step up, and she did not let her team down. Romeo averaged 16 points on the year, but she got better and better with each passing game. The 5'8 guard became the second player in program history to record a triple double, with 12 points 10 assists and 10 rebounds in a Nebraska win over Northwestern in the regular season finale. The next game she scored 23 points grabbed 3 rebounds dished out 3 assists, and added 2 steals in a three-point loss to Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. She played all 40 minutes and made 7 of 10 3pt field goals attempted. Romeo then bounced back to face the university of northern Iowa in the first round of the WNIT. She recorded 20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal on 50% shooting in a two-point loss.

Romeo ended her sophomore campaign averaging 16 points, 3 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals while leading the Nebraska Cornhuskers with a school record 104 made three-pointers, besting the previous record by 19. She finished with nine 20 point games, including a three 30 point efforts on the season. Romeo also had five games with six or more threes; two of those games she got 8 and one she made 7 which are all at the top of the list for all-time Nebraska single game performances. Romeo shot 42.4% from deep on the year.

Romeo tasted blood again vs. Penn St. and erupted for a career-high 32 points on January 13, 2016, which included a school-record eight three-pointers. Just two weeks later, she tied her own school record with eight more threes while amassing her third 30-point effort of the season. Romeo scored 30 points in a victory over Wisconsin on January 27, 2016.

Romeo was an eight time Big Ten Player of the Week nominee. Other notable performances include California and Michigan St., both ranked teams. Romeo scored 24 points, making 6 of 12 threes at 22nd ranked California on December 12, 2015 in an overtime loss. She scored 25 points and made 5 of 7 threes in a win over 17th ranked Michigan State on February 14, 2016.

Washington Huskies

Junior year

Romeo tied her career high of 32 points vs. California on January 27, 2017 in just 33 minutes of playing time. She broke her old personal best of 8 threes in a game by going 10 of 19 from deep. She also added 4 rebounds and 1 assist. She scored 17 points in the first quarter and 26 in the first half, shooting 8-12 from deep.

College basketball statistics

Through March 11, 2017

Natalie Romeo Statistics at the University of Nebraska and the University of Washington

Year

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

Totals

Awards and honors

  • All-Big Ten (Second Team, 2016)
  • Nebraska Defensive Player of the Year (2016)
  • Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll (Nov. 16, 2015; Jan. 18, 2016; Feb. 29, 2016)
  • Nebraska Season Record 3FG (104, 2016)
  • Nebraska Game Record Eight 3FG  (at Penn State, Jan. 13, 2016; vs. Wisconsin, Jan. 27, 2016)
  • Nebraska Season-Opening Record (30 Points vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff, Nov. 14, 2015)
  • Second Triple-Double in Nebraska History  (12 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists vs. Northwestern, Feb. 28, 2016)
  • Nebraska Big Ten Tournament Game Record (7 3FG, vs. Illinois, 2015; vs. Rutgers, 2016)
  • Nebraska Big Ten Tournament Season Record with 11 3FG (2015)
  • Nebraska Big Ten Tournament Career Record with 18 3FG 
  • Tied Nebraska NCAA Tournament Record with Five 3FG (vs. Syracuse, 2015)
  • Tied for No. 6 at Nebraska Career 3FG (155, 2015–present)
  • No. 1 at Nebraska in Sophomore 3FG Made (104, 2016)
  • No. 2 at Nebraska in Freshman 3FG Made (51, 2015)
  • Big Ten Sportsmanship Award (2016)
  • Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2014)
  • Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2015)

High school:

  • Cal-Hi Sports Player of the Year (2014)
  • First-Team All-California Elite (Cal-Hi Sports, 2014)
  • First-Team All-California Division II (Cal-Hi Sports, 2013, 2014)
  • Third-Team All-California Division II (Cal-Hi Sports, 2012)
  • North Coast Section Player of the Year (2013, 2014)
  • East Bay Athletic League MVP (2013, 2014)
  • Four-Time First-Team All-EBAL (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)
  • No. 27 Player in Nation (Full Court Press, 2014)
  • No. 55 Player in Nation (ESPN HoopGurlz, 2014)
  • No. 6 Point Guard in Nation (Full Court Press, 2014)
  • No. 12 Point Guard in Nation (ESPN HoopGurlz, 2014)