Honors & Awards
- 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 3FGÂ
- 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)
- 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)
Sophomore (2015-16)
Natalie Romeo (pronounced ROW-MEE-Oh) proved herself as one of the most explosive scorers and three-point shooters in the Big Ten. The sophomore from Martinez, Calif., earned second-team All-Big Ten honors and was Nebraska’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner. She was also an academic All-Big Ten choice.
Late in the season, Romeo started playing a more prominent role at point guard with season-ending injuries to senior guards Rachel Theriot and Kyndal Clark. Romeo notched the second triple-double in Nebraska history with 12 points and career highs of 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the Huskers’ win over Northwestern in the regular-season finale. After a 23-point effort against Rutgers at the Big Ten Tournament that included 7-of-10 three-point shooting, Romeo capped her season with 20 points, nine rebounds and five against against Northern Iowa in the opening round of the WNIT.
Romeo finished with season averages of 16.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals while leading the Huskers with a school-record 104 three-pointers. She finished with nine 20-point games, including a trio of 30-point efforts on the season. She also had five games with six or more threes.
She erupted for a career-high 32 points at Penn State Jan. 13 that included a school-record eight threes. She tied her own record two weeks later with eight more threes and her third 30-point effort of the season with 30 points in a win over Wisconsin Jan 27.
Romeo opened her sophomore campaign with 30 points (most ever by a Husker in a season opener) and four assists in 26 minutes against Arkansas Pine Bluff Nov. 14. She hit 6-of-9 threes. She was an eight-time Big Ten Player-of-the-Week nominee. She had 24 points and hit 6-of-12 threes at No. 22 California Dec. 12. Romeo added 25 points and hit 5-of-7 threes in a win over No. 17 Michigan State Feb. 14.
Freshman (2014-15)
Romeo was thrust into a starting role late in her freshman season after overcoming a foot injury that kept her out for most of the non-conference campaign.
She started Nebraska's final 10 games of 2014-15, while making 12 starts in her 24 appearances on the season.
Romeo scored in double figures seven times, including a trio of 20-point games. She emerged as a dangerous three-point threat late in the season, draining 16-of-35 three-point attempts in Big Ten and NCAA Tournament play.
In Nebraska's win over Illinois in the second-round of the Big Ten Tournament on March 5, Romeo tied a school record with seven three-pointers on her way to a career-high 26 points against the Illini. She hit 7-of-11 shots from long range to set the NU record for three-pointers made in a conference tournament game.
The next night, Romeo hit four more threes to finish with 14 points in a quarterfinal loss to No. 14 Iowa. Romeo's 11 threes shattered Nebraska's record for a conference tournament and tied NU's career Big Ten Tournament record.
She carried that success into the NCAA Tournament, where she knocked down five threes to finish with 15 points in a first-round loss to Syracuse in Columbia, S.C., on March 20. Romeo's five threes tied the NU single-game NCAA Tournament record held by Yvonne Turner.
In postseason play, Romeo averaged a team-best 18.3 points on 5.3 three-pointers made per game. She added 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals while playing 115 of Nebraska's 120 total minutes in tournament action.
Romeo hit four or more threes in five games on the season, including four of Nebraska's final five contests of the year.
Romeo finished the season with averages of 9.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. In her 12 games as a starter, she averaged 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists while knocking down 3.3 three-pointers per game. She hit 38.5 percent of her three-point attempts in her 12 starts.
Romeo's 51 threes ranked as the second-highest total by a freshman in school history, trailing only Jordan Hooper's 67 in 2010-11. Romeo's total came in 303 fewer minutes played than Hooper.
Romeo started her collegiate career as Nebraska's top guard off the bench through the first four games of the regular season. She suffered a stress reaction in her foot prior to Nebraska's Thanksgiving trip to UCLA and missed eight games before returning to the court against No. 14 Maryland on Jan. 3.
She scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds in just 12 minutes off the bench to help the Huskers to a win at Michigan State on Jan. 8.
Romeo made her first career start against Penn State on Jan. 15, when she erupted for 18 points and six three-pointers. She started for the second time in place of an injured Brandi Jeffery at Wisconsin Jan. 22, producing nine points in a solid effort.
Romeo came off the bench over the next four games, before making a start in place of the injured Rachel Theriot at No. 5 Maryland on Feb. 8. Romeo managed eight points and grabbed a career-high five rebounds against the Terrapins.
She erupted for her first career 20-point game with 21 points and and a career-high four assists in a sweep of Wisconsin Feb. 15. Romeo added 21 points and six threes in a rout of Minnesota Feb. 24. She added 13 points at Northwestern on Feb. 18.
She hit the game-winning shot with a three-pointer from the corner with 1:11 left to give Nebraska its only lead in a 59-57 victory over Illinois Jan. 29. Romeo hit NU's first and last field goals of the game against the Illini. She also sank four free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal Nebraska's win at Indiana Feb. 21.
Before Nebraska
One of the nation's top point guards coming out of Carondelet High School in California, Romeo averaged 19.8 points, 7.8 assists and 5.6 steals per game to lead Carondelet to an appearance in the 2014 CIF state semifinals. She also led the Cougars to the North Coast Section Division II title for the fourth consecutive season.
Romeo closed her prep career by competing in the NorCal "PassThaBall" Senior All-Star Game.
In her final two seasons at Carondelet, she totaled 1,294 points, 348 rebounds, 450 assists and 369 steals over 63 games. As a senior, Romeo carried nearly a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (250-87).
Romeo finished her four-year career as a varsity starter with 2,151 points to rank No. 2 in school history. She added 552 rebounds and school records of 735 assists and 613 steals. She became only the second player from Carondelet to score 2,000 points, joining former Stanford All-American Jayne Appel in reaching the milestone.
In addition to her aggressiveness at both ends of the court, Romeo was also a dangerous three-point shooter, burying 193 threes and hitting better than 35 percent from long range during her career. She was also nearly a 75 percent free throw shooter.
As a senior, she was the Cal-Hi Sports Player of the Year and was the North Coast Section Player of the Year in both 2013 and 2014. She was also the East Bay Athletic League MVP for the second straight year.
As a 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. Along the way, she earned EBAL MVP honors in 2012-13, helping Carondelet to a top 20 national ranking as a team for Coach Margaret Gartner.Â
During her sophomore season in 2011-12, Romeo averaged 16.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 4.6 steals per game, guiding Carondelet to EBAL and North Coast titles. The Cougars also advanced to the California state semifinals. Carondelet was ranked among the top 20 teams nationally in 2011-12, after producing a 27-4 overall record. She was named the MVP of the Holiday Classic and was an all-tournament selection at the Trojan Shootout. She was also a first-team All-EBAL selection.
As a freshman in 2010-11, 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. She also was the only freshman named first-team All-EBAL, while guiding the Cougars to a 28-5 overall record.
Romeo was a starter for one of the premier club programs in the nation, the Cal Stars Elite, since she was an eighth grader. She was coached by Kelly Sopak with the Cal Stars Elite.
Personal
Natalie is the daughter of Vince and Maria Romeo, and was born March 11, 1996, in Walnut Creek, Calif. She has an older sister, Camille, and a younger brother, Vinnie.
Natalie is majoring in business administration and earned academic All-Big Ten honors in 2016. She also claimed a spot on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in the fall of 2014. She was a member of the 2015 Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.
She chose Nebraska over Boston College, Oregon State, Utah and Arizona.
Five Facts About Natalie
- Natalie loves to draw.
- Darrien Washington is her best friend.
- Natalie is shy.
- She loves to dance, but thinks she is a terrible dancer.
- Natalie loves to sing, but thinks she is a terrible singer.
Romeo's Career Statistics
|
Year |
G-GS |
FG-FGA |
Pct. |
3P-3PA |
Pct. |
FT-FTA |
Pct. |
TRB-Avg. |
PF-D |
A |
TO |
Blk |
ST |
Pts-Avg. |
|
2014-15 |
24-12 |
70-210 |
.333 |
51-144 |
.354 |
24-30 |
.800 |
60-2.5 |
29-0 |
34 |
40 |
1 |
17 |
215-9.0 |
|
2015-16 |
31-30 |
175-397 |
.441 |
104-245 |
.424 |
41-49 |
.837 |
90-2.9 |
46-0 |
93 |
67 |
4 |
44 |
495-16.0 |
|
Career |
55-42 |
245-607 |
.404 |
155-389 |
.398 |
65-79 |
.823 |
150-2.7 |
75-0 |
127 |
107 |
5 |
61 |
710-12.9 |