At halftime on Thursday, the No. 12 Michigan women’s basketball team went to the locker room clinging to a one-point lead against Rutgers. The Wolverines were shooting 37.5% from the field — just 20% excluding graduate forward Emily Kiser’s six shots — and a meager two-for-eleven from three-point range. Missing five of those 3-pointers was senior guard Maddie Nolan, Michigan’s top perimeter shooter this year.
But despite those early struggles, her impact was palpable.
Nolan finished with a respectable 15 points on 41% shooting, but equally impactful were her contributions early in the game to keep the Wolverines ahead of the Scarlet Knights. Her high-energy defense and veteran presence elevated Michigan’s struggling supporting cast, and three assists dished to Kiser proved highly valuable in the low-scoring half.
Then, in the second half, her three 3-pointers helped put the game away. With the Wolverines missing two starting guards, Nolan proved herself once again as a top talent who can impact a game from every spot on the court.
Absent fifth-year wing Leigha Brown and sophomore guard Laila Phelia, two of Michigan’s strongest defenders at the guard position, Nolan was tasked with guarding Rutgers’ leading scorer, guard Kaylene Smikle, who finished with 14 points.
“Maddie’s defense goes uncredited,” Kiser said postgame. “Laila (Phelia) and Maddie are up there for our best defenders. She was guarding (Smikle) the whole night. And she gets those hustle plays, (she) was helping me out on the post player. I know we always talk about Maddie Nolan shooting but she’s so much more than that.”
Those hustle plays were instrumental in Michigan’s halftime lead.
Amid a disastrous second quarter during which the Wolverines scored just one field goal, Nolan appeared desperate to keep the lead. She replicated the fiery energy normally provided by Brown to motivate her struggling teammates. In one sequence after Rutgers cut their deficit to one point, Nolan stole a pass, drove the length of the court and drew a foul.
She converted both of her free throws, which accounted for two of just seven second-quarter points for Michigan.
Then, in the second half, Nolan helped put the game away.
After starting 0-for-6 from deep, her three fourth-quarter 3-pointers crushed the Scarlet Knights’ chances of mounting a comeback. Each made shot ignited the home crowd — as did her emphatic celebrations.
“I’m just so happy for her,” Wolverines coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “She’s meant a ton to our program and to see her out there having fun like she was tonight was really special.”
Notably, Nolan’s strong showing came in the final regular-season home game of the season, and on her senior night. Michigan honored her alongside senior guard Michelle Sidor in a pregame ceremony, highlighting their accomplishments over the past four seasons.
“I’m thankful and grateful for the opportunity to play here,” Nolan said. “I really couldn’t have asked for a better four years here … it meant a lot to me to be able to put on the block M and play with these girls every single day.”
Even more notable, though, was her ability to rise to a new challenge: the absence of Brown, who serves as the Wolverines’ point guard.
Without her, Nolan posted a team-high seven assists, helping Kiser to her career high and driving an offense that looked lost at times throughout the game.
Her contributions as a passer, like those she added as a scorer, defender and motivator, came just when the Wolverines needed her most — and put them over the edge despite adverse circumstances.