Before coming to Colorado last summer, Maddie Nolan enjoyed a lot of success during her four seasons with the Michigan women’s basketball team.
Her time with the Wolverines even included a win against Caitlin Clark and Iowa, on Feb. 6, 2022. Overall, Nolan went 1-3 against Iowa the past three years and is the only player on the CU roster who has defeated Clark’s Hawkeyes.
The fifth-seeded Buffs (24-9) will face top-seeded Iowa (31-4) in the Sweet 16 in Albany, N.Y., on Saturday (1:30 p.m. MT, ABC). Nolan’s experience against the Hawkeyes could be a resource for CU.
“I think she’ll definitely have an opinion and some insight and some little nuggets that she can share with coaches as well as our teammates,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “We’ll take any little bit of advice that we can get.”
Of course, Iowa has a different roster makeup than in the past, but a few of the key players – including Clark, Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin – remain, and Clark isn’t the only weapon.
“That was a big focal point of ours last year, as well, I think how much they have improved, especially Martin,” Nolan said. “I think her scoring has gone up a bunch in last couple of years and she, in my opinion, is their glue and an X-factor for them, as well.”
It all starts with Clark, the all-time leading scorer in college basketball history.
“Caitlin’s probably gonna get hers,” Nolan said. “You can try to contain her, but there’s no really telling how many points she’s gonna have. Just coming in, they play tough. … They have that toughness in them and I think that’s gonna be really fun matchup for us.”
Nolan had 17 points and five rebounds in Michigan’s win against Iowa two years ago, but Clark had 46 points and 10 assists.
Beyond her experience against Iowa, Nolan is the only Buff who has been to an Elite Eight (in 2022) and this will be her third Sweet 16 appearance. Overall, she’s 8-3 in NCAA Tournament games.
Drought beyond the arc
On the verge of breaking CU’s career record for made 3-pointers, Frida Formann had an unusual opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
In CU’s win against Drake on March 22, Formann had season lows in minutes (14, due to foul trouble) and points (two) and for the first time in her four-year CU career didn’t attempt a 3-pointer. Two days later against Kansas State, she scored nine points, but was 0-for-2 from 3-point range.
During her time at CU, this is the first time Formann has played two straight games without hitting a 3-pointer.
Formann, who averages 12.5 points and 2.4 made 3s per game, has played enough basketball to not worry too much.
“That’s why it’s so amazing to play with so many good players,” she said of her teammates. “When I played in Denmark, I could never have two games with this few points and we’d still win, but now I’m on a team where I’m starting and I really just have to do my role and that doesn’t even need to be scoring. So I think that’s really a privilege.
“Of course I want to score and if we’re gonna make it far I might have to knock down some 3s, but yeah it’s really a privilege (to play with talented teammates).”
Formann knocked down four 3-pointers against Iowa in the Sweet 16 last year.
Formann has 257 career 3-pointers, tied with Bianca Smith (2006-10) for the CU record. She’s hit a career-high 79 this season, which is just three shy of Smith’s single-season record (82 in 2009-10).
Notable
Nolan (.435) and Formann (.422) both have 3-point percentages this season that would rank top 10 in CU history. … As a team, CU has made 221 3-pointers, the third-best single-season total in program history. The record is 236, in 2007-08. … CU traveled to Albany on Thursday. The Buffs will have a practice and press conference at MVP Arena on Friday. … Saturday will mark just the fourth time ever that CU will play a game in New York, and the Buffs never lost in the Empire State. CU won at Fordham (Jan. 14, 1980), at Syracuse (Dec. 31, 2002) and at Buffalo (Jan. 2, 2003).
