When the cameras and lights aren’t on, Fordham graduate student forward Irene Murua can often be found in the weight room. Though the native of Spain didn’t do a lot of weightlifting before coming to the United States, she knows she’s gotten stronger over her collegiate career.
Listed at 6’, Murua is shorter than many players she faces in the Atlantic 10, and head coach Bridgette Mitchell has seen the work she puts in to compete physically with the team’s opponents.
Murua’s college career started at Louisiana Tech in 2020. She played in 18 games off the bench averaging 1.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
When she headed to Ruston, La., Murua thought her English was enough to get her by, but she realized it wasn’t when she couldn’t understand what was being said around her. In addition, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she couldn’t go home for the duration of the school year, and no one could visit her.
In the spring of 2021, she decided to transfer to Detroit Mercy, where she averaged 10.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steals in 91 games (three seasons) and graduated with her bachelor’s degree in mathematics.
Looking to experience a different city and get a master’s degree in data science while using her last year of eligibility, Fordham was a perfect fit.
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When she was 11, Murua started playing basketball because her brother, who’s two years older than her, was playing, and she wanted to follow in his footsteps. Though he’s now playing Basque pelota professionally, she wears his old basketball number (6) and credits him — as well as her parents and one of her first basketball coaches — with being her biggest influences in the sport growing up.
Murua believes her early success in basketball came because she was taller than her peers. Not much came easily to her, and she had to work on her shot and dribbling skills as she continued playing. “I don’t think I was super talented, so I had to work to get those skills,” she told The Next.
Mitchell described Murua’s work ethic as “elite,” and Murua believes it’s something her parents taught her and her brother.
Starting in all 29 games this season, Murua is averaging 12.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists this season and has helped the team earn the No. 8 seed in the A-10 Tournament. “We can always count on her for a basket, she’s very essential to what we do,” junior forward Kaila Berry told The Next.
Murua leads the team in rebounds per game and helped the team improve from seventh in the conference in rebounds per game last season to second in the regular season.
Mitchell wasn’t surprised to see Murua’s skill set translate right away because of her footwork as well as her ability to score, create her own shot and stretch the defense. “All of the things that she’s been able to do on the court has made us better,” she told The Next.
In addition to fitting in on the team “like a glove,” Mitchell said Murua leads by example. “She’s not gonna talk much, she’s not gonna scream at anybody or tell anybody what to do, but she’s gonna do everything that is asked of her … and she’s gonna do it to 100%,” Mitchell said.
Murua brings years of experience in game situations, as well as what shows up on the box score. Mitchell encouraged Murua to share what she knows with the other post players, and though she was hesitant to speak up at first, Murua gained confidence in her leadership when her teammates were open to listening to her and the advice she shared.
This season, Mitchell has learned from Murua that patience is sometimes needed when working with graduate student transfers and that they may need time to build confidence in speaking up in their new environment.
“The amount of time that it took for her to earn the respect and confidence of her teammates was really quick, but for her to be able to become more vocal, it took some time,” Mitchell said.
“And you think, ‘Oh, she knows me and she knows what to do.’ You gotta have that chemistry, and that’s what we’ve been working on all season. And so to see her growing and shining the way that she is, is really impressive.”
Berry is working to emulate Murua’s ability to not let anything speed her up on and off the court. She also admires Murua’s work ethic and resilience. “She goes hard every time she steps between those lines,” Berry said. “There’s not a day where she doesn’t give effort.”
After making just three 3-pointers in her first four collegiate seasons, Murua has made nine this season, including all four of her attempts against George Washington on Feb. 4.
“It has been a long process,” she said. “I’ve been working on my outside shooting, my 3-point shots, since my first year, but I just needed some confidence to actually take those shots in the game and in practice. This year, Coach B [Mitchell] has given me the green light to shoot it, and I feel that now I can see the result of all those years that I’ve been working on it.”
Berry has seen growth in Murua’s game over the months she’s been at Fordham. “She’s added more stuff to it, from early summer to now, she’s made a really good jump, and I feel like she’s only gonna get better,” she said. “She’s challenged herself in more ways than one, and I feel like it shows every time she plays.”
While Murua isn’t sure if she wants to play professionally, she knows she wants to work as a data scientist when she’s done — or even while she’s playing. Mitchell knows that whenever Murua begins her career as a data scientist, “she’ll definitely be impacting the world.”
No matter what her next steps are, basketball has given Murua the skills — including time management, discipline and knowing how to be a part of a team — to be ready for her future.
Last season, Fordham lost to Loyola Chicago in the second round of the A-10 Tournament and this season, Murua is hoping for a different outcome on Thursday, March 6 against Duquesne.
“We’ve had some ups and downs, but … I think now, at the end of the season, we have that level of maturity, and I think we’re ready to go to the playoffs and surprise people.”
