No matter how challenging the path, Natalie Thomas will always finish what she starts.

The Community R-6 graduate was able to experience a career déjà vu when the William Woods University senior surpassed 1,000 career points in the Owls’ 75-63 loss last Saturday at Missouri Baptist. Almost five years ago, Thomas reached the milestone as a Lady Trojan with her family in attendance once again.

“You don’t see a lot of people stick college basketball out for very long,” Thomas said. “It’s physically and mentally very hard. It’s hard to wake up some days at 6 a.m., go practice for two and half hours and then have to go to class. At the end of the day, I was raised to finish what you started.”

Honestly, Thomas said she didn’t want to know how close she was to 1,000, but like a TV show, was spoiled by a social media post before Saturday’s game saying she was eight points away. She finished with 12 points and four steals to put at 1,004 points after the game.

“I had told my mom a while ago that I didn’t want to know how close I was because I didn’t want to think about that during the game,” Thomas said. “My goal is to ultimately win the game and become competitive in the game. It was almost a sigh a relief like, ‘Now, I can breathe.’ I could just step back and be like, ‘OK I did that, and that’s a really cool accomplishment.’ I’m very hard on myself so for me to step back and smile and enjoy that moment was a big thing for me.”

Going into college, Thomas was already driven, according to her Community head coach Bob Curtis, and wanted to do whatever she could to improve. However, Thomas said circumstances forced to improve and helped her to reach the same milestone over a more difficult road.

First of all, her freshman season was shortened to 17 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic and forced Thomas to abandon an all-conference freshman campaign where she was averaging 15.2 points and shooting 39 percent on 3-pointers. Then, those numbers dropped for Thomas to 9.4 and 26.8 percent during her sophomore year after she said the 3-point line was moved back. As a self-described shooter in high school, this took some adjusting for Thomas.

“That was an adjustment to have to figure out how to change my game to where now I do have to go in and be a lot more physical and in the paint,” Thomas said. “I had to get to the rim because I wasn’t shooting it as well. As the years have gone on, something different has happened where I’d have to adjust my game and try something new to score the ball.”

While her 3-point percentage has decreased every year, Thomas’ free-throw shooting percentage has conversely changed to where she is hitting 91.4 percent from the line as a senior. As a freshman, Thomas was only knocking down 73 percent of free throws. She has been named an honorable mention for the American Midwest Conference team the past two seasons, including her junior campaign that saw her free throw attempts increase from 52 to 116 and her team-high 97 free throws made contribute to her 14.8 points per game.

Thomas said it was beneficial anyway that she became more accustomed to driving to the rim and taking more free throws because the college game is much more physical than high school. She said having head coach Terry Nash the past three years helped her transition to this style of play.

“I had to figure out what type of player I was going to be and coach Nash helped in that and really reinforced me getting to the free-throw line,” Thomas said. “I had to get downhill and get to the paint because I had a good free-throw shooting percentage. He was trying to get me to use that to my advantage. My freshman year to the player I am now is a complete 180 different player from what I was.”

It was appropriate then that Thomas’ official 1,000th point occurred on a free throw and that she finished 4-for-4 from the line in the game. Nash called timeout to let Thomas celebrate a moment with her supportive teammates and with a coach she said she has developed a “special bond” with over the last three years.

“He was very brief with, ‘Hey, congratulations, but look, we got a game to win,’” Thomas said with a chuckle. “That’s definitely always been my goal like, ‘Yeah, it’s a great achievement and we can celebrate after, but hey, we’ve still got a game to win.’”

Nash agreed that Thomas has never been too focused on individual accomplishments and concerns herself more with whatever’s best for the team. He said Thomas has become a better free-throw shooter, certainly, but has also become a better playmaker and defender over time and has shown better communication, attention to detail and game preparation. Thomas’ assists per game has increased every year, going from 1.6 as a freshman to 2.9 currently as a senior, and she has 15 steals through 12 games after finishing with a career-high 24 through 27 games as a junior.

Thomas is a “perfect example of what somebody does to get everything they need toward a program,” Nash said, and was happy to see all his three-year captain’s hard work pay off. He said Thomas also told him to not reveal how close she was to 1,000 and believes that speaks volumes of the type of player he wishes he was getting for another year.

“I was nothing but amazing to see her go out and get that achievement that she’s wanted for a while, but it’s always she’s wanted in a way it still helps the team elevate a win,” Nash said. “Her goal wasn’t to get the 1,000 points. She’s a good player, so she’s going to get it. She wanted to have the best season possible. It’s all about the team and is never about, ‘Oh, I got to get mine, I’ve got to score the basketball, I’ve got to get this.’”

Thomas reached 1,000 points as a Lady Trojan back on Feb. 1, 2019, with a 3-pointer. Curtis said Thomas has always had a knack for scoring the basketball and displayed good shooting in high school but had the foundation to be the college player she is now. He remembers she was a good leader that was a “floor general,” was unselfish and affected non-scoring areas like rebounding despite her 5-foot-8 height.

Curtis said Thomas’ contributions helped Community reach two state Final Fours during her high school career and feels blessed to have met her and to be part of her journey as a player. A big reason why is the personality and mindset Thomas absorbed from “amazing role models” like her coach parents, Matt and Carey, who have been in attendance with her younger brother and sister whenever she has reached 1,000. Matt Thomas was the Community boys basketball coach and Carey Thomas coached Natalie in softball while she was a Lady Trojans before eventually moving on to Warrensburg.

“When I first met her, you can tell she spent a lot of time at an early age becoming a good basketball player,” Curtis said. “She definitely is a kid that will do her best and see it through. I always witnessed that as her coach. Regardless of how things were going, she was going to try to make the best of the situation.”

Thomas is grateful to her parents for instilling the importance of seeing things through into her, which has carried her through times where her drive has wavered at all. She ventured to say that all college athletes feel that way at some point so having the role models there during those 1,000-point moments was even more special for her.

“I don’t think that’s something a lot of people have in them these days is to finish something that they’ve started and to not let my teammates down,” Thomas said. “At the end of the day, anybody who doesn’t stick with what they started is letting somebody down next to them.”

The William Woods women fell to 7-5 after the Missouri Baptist loss but are on pace for a better record than Thomas’ previous three years of 5-12, 10-19 and 8-20. Before Thomas finishes her career as an Owl, she said her goals now involve achieving a winning season to bring the Owls out of a rebuild and also be an All-American in track and field like she was two years ago.

Her coaches wouldn’t be surprised to see Thomas follow in her parents’ footsteps as a coach. Curtis said it wouldn’t be a shock to him to see coach Natalie Thomas one day as it seems to be “in her blood.” Nash agrees Thomas has the makings of a future coach after being a “staple” for the program and compiling a Hall of Fame career at William Woods.

“She always had the talent, but it’s just learning it from a mental standpoint to continually get better as a player,” Nash said. “You have a senior that’s been through it all and has been through the ups and downs that she has. She’s learned so much from the game.”

Thomas isn’t sure how her senior year on the court will finish but is certain that she wouldn’t have been celebrating on Saturday or during her special night at Community without her teammates.

“I still have to get the ball from them to be able to score,” Thomas said. “I really couldn’t have done it without my teammates and obviously coach Nash for putting me in those positions. My teammates were very excited for me. I have a lot of support on that team that I'm very thankful for. There are a lot of girls that I made special bonds with.”