Piotrowski tried her best to convince her teasers that on the day they came to see her ND points record surpassed she wasn't trying to prevent the inevitable from happening.

Campbell eventually overcame her uncustomary slow start to score 19 points and lead the Irish to a 51-33 win over Hamilton that put ND into a first place tie with Trenton in the Colonial Valley Conference's Colonial Division title chase.

ND's win was its 52nd in its last 53 CVC games over four years, and its 20th this season as it stayed among the top five teams in both The Trentonian Area and State Top 20.

Campbell overcame a 3-for-14 shooting slump that had family and friends pacing nervously in the first half to set the Irish career mark with a foul shot at 3:47 of the third period.

It brought her career total to 1,700 and surpassed the 1,699 Piotrowski had scored in her four years at ND when she was Jen Hutchinson and leading the Irish to two Parochial A state titles as a two-time state champ.

She is now an Irish assistant coach and sure seemed happy to see the latest ND superstar get her just due.

Campbell would go on to score 19 and bring her career total to 1,704 -- only the third girl in CVC history to score over 1,700. Teammate Jackie Reddy's 18 points gave her 1,073.

Campbell, who had her first shot of the game deflected by Hornet freshman Jeanette Bell, missed four from the floor and four from the foul line after her first hoop began a 9-0 run that put ND ahead for good, 12-6.

In the second period she had a pair of five-point runs that got the ND lead to 18 by halftime. It left the only question in doubt when Campbell would pass Piotrowski.

"I don't think I was nervous, just rushing my shots," said the Rutgers-bound all-state center. "I knew it would come, but I was forcing it to come."

Later after all the customary festivites surrounded by family,coaches, teammates, and Piotrowski, Campbell reflected on her milestone.

"I look at it as a lot of hard work paying off," she said. "So many people pushed me to work hard in practice -- Ann (DeMille, ND's coach), Phil Merlino (her AAU coach), my parents, my teammates. So many people.

"Jen (Piotrowski) has kept me energized throughout the whole season, urging me on (to the record)," said Campbell, who not only overpowered Hamilton on offense with her power drives to the hoop, but often intimidated Linda Weise's team with four blocks and nine rebounds.

"I'm so proud of Michelle, and so happy for her," said DeMille, who has coached eight of ND's 13 career 1,000-point scorers, including three of the top four.

"She deserves everything she has received. And the thing that stands out most about her is that she is such a great person," said DeMille. "I know Jen has always told me she is happy Michelle will be the only to break the record because she is such a great person.