The Colorado women’s basketball team prides itself on playing defense and rebounding. It’s an identity that head coach JR Payne established early on in her time in Boulder, and one that has stuck around as the program has risen through the ranks of college basketball.
However, to be a true top 10 team like the Buffs are now, you have to be able to get it done on both ends of the court. Enter Frida Formann, a senior guard and the flamethrower who has ignited the Colorado offense so far this season.
The Buffs have struggled at times on the offensive end at times in recent years, but they have had no such troubles this season. With the nonconference slate behind them, the Buffs boast a top 15 scoring offense and rank in the top five in the nation in assists.
The emergence of Formann has played no small part in that uptick in offensive production. The Denmark native is leading the Buffs in scoring at 15.4 points per contest and is doing it on efficiency that would make even the best of shooters turn their head. She’s launching a career-high seven 3-pointers per game and knocking them down at an incredible 48.1% clip. Formann has also ramped up her production inside the arc, shooting just under 50% from the floor, which is more than 10 percentage points better than her previous career high. As of now, Formann is into the top five in program history in career threes, and has knocked down at least one triple in 17 consecutive games.
“I’ve just been super consistent with trying to get better,” Formann said. “Progress sometimes is really slow, and you don’t know when your moment is gonna be there. So I think it’s just been the fruits of my labor, and also being on a team where I’ve kind of built up that role and I know my teammates really well. They know where I need to get the ball.”
The Buffs know that Formann has always been able to score, and has always had the potential to be a lethal shooter from the perimeter. But the star guard’s development in the other areas of the game has allowed her to take a leap into a true All-Conference level performer.
This season, Formann is making more plays off the dribble. Whether it be attacking closeouts and driving to the rim, or finding different ways to get open threes with the dribble, she has transformed her scoring profile so much as a senior, opponents can no longer classify her as just a shooter. Her playmaking (career-high 2.5 assists per game) has taken a major leap, and the Dane looks much more comfortable making the extra pass and operating in the pick-and-roll, routinely finding her bigs with precise pocket passes in the lane.
