Hi-Line Athlete Profile: Natalee Faupel, MSU-N Women's Basketball

Time flies when you’re having fun. And the same can be said for the life of a college basketball player.

And it’s certainly flown by for Montana State University-Northern guard Natalee Faupel, who already begins her junior season tonight when the Skylights host the Concordia-Alberta Thunder on opening night of the 2015 Duck Inn Classic. In all, the Skylights will play three games in the Armory Gymnasium to open the season, including tonight’s game which tips off at 7. Northern also hosts The King’s University Thursday night at 8 p.m. and Northwest Indian College Friday night at 7 p.m.

For Faupel, this weekend’s trio of opening games will the her third as a Skylight. The former Butte High star not only played but as a true freshman for the Skylights, but quickly moved into the starting lineup. She ended that season with a trip to the NAIA national tournament, as well as Frontier Conference All-Freshman honors.

But what she did for a sophomore encore really set her apart. Last season, Faupel earned First-Team All-Conference honors by scoring 13 points per game, and shooting better than 40 percent from the 3-point line, and along the way, she helped the Skylights not only get back to the national tournament, but win two games while they were there.

But, as always, things change quickly in college basketball, and they’ve certainly changed for Faupel. Her first two seasons at Northern, she was a talented, young player on a veteran team. Now, Faupel is one of the top returning players in the Frontier Conference and a leader of a new-look Skylights’ squad, on and off the floor. While her career is indeed flying by, the scary part for the rest of the Frontier is, Faupel’s best basketball is still ahead of her.

Here’s five questions with the versatile and talented Faupel on the eve of Northern’s opener with the Thunder.

HDN: I bet you and your teammates are really excited to start a new season?

Faupel: “I’m really excited. This a great group of girls. It’s a new group, and things will be different this year. But we’re all really excited for this season to get going.”

HDN: Last year was a magical season for MSU-N. What was it like?

Faupel: “It was amazing from start to finish. I enjoyed playing with that group of girls so much. And going to the national tournament again, that is something not a lot of people get to experience, and I’ve been able to do it twice. And getting that experience, the confidence we had last year, knowing we could go there and win games, that was really big. It’s something we can bring back to this team this year. We know what it takes to get it done. So last season was just awesome. It was a season of a lifetime.”

HDN: You played right away your freshman season. Now you’re a junior. Your career seems to be going by really fast?

Faupel: “I can’t believe it. I was just talking to someone about that the other day, that we’re about to play the first game of this season, and I already only have two years left. People tell you it goes by fast, but you don’t know until you actually experience it. It seems like just yesterday I was a freshman.”

HDN: Who is your favorite basketball player?

Faupel: “Right now, it’s Steph Curry. He sees the floor better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He’s the definition of a pure shooter. He’s just so much fun to watch and he makes basketball fun to watch.”

HDN: What will fans see out of this new team this season?

Faupel: “We’re a little bit smaller, but we have more speed and quickness. We’re going to move the ball a lot and shoot it a lot. We have a ton of really good guards, but we have good inside players, too. Of course, we’re going to be really tough on defense, as usual. Coach Mouat always makes sure we are really strong defensively. This is a great group of girls and we’re going to work really hard this season and see where we can go.”