As the starting point guard on the Lemon-Monroe High School girls varsity basketball team from 1976-1979, Murphy compiled a laundry list of accomplishments. A three-time first team All Mid-Miami League honoree, Murphy helped lead the Hornets to a MML championship in three seasons on the team.
“We had a lot of athletes. All of us made each other better,” Murphy said.
During her senior season, Murphy was named MML Player of the Year, Golden Triangle Player of the Year and was an Associated Press and United Press International first team All-State honoree.
She set the school record for points in a game (52) and a season (522), records that still stand. She left Lemon-Monroe with 1,045 career points.
Murphy also played three years of varsity softball and a year of varsity volleyball. The school honored Murphy’s accomplishments by retiring her jersey number in 1979 and making her a member of the Monroe High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.
Today
After graduating from Lemon-Monroe, Murphy earned her associate’s degree in mechanical engineering from Miami University Middletown and her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Miami University. She returned to Monroe as a junior varsity girls basketball coach from 1986-1995 and also coached the girls tennis team for two seasons.
“That was the most exciting time to watch those kids,” Murphy said. “It was nice to watch them grow and develop.”
Murphy is a co-chair of the Monroe High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee, helping find each year’s honorees.
She lives in Middletown and works as a researcher in General Electric’s Engineering Department.
Quotable
“I bleed Blue and Gold, I always have.” — Murphy on her induction into Monroe’s Athletic Hall of Fame
— Dan Gedney, Staff Writer