File photo by Travis Rosenau Maddie Backer takes a 3 for the New Ulm Eagles during a home game against Redwood Valley on Feb. 18, 2025.

PELLA, Iowa — Central College head women’s basketball coach Justin Weiland said that 2025 New Ulm High School grad Maddie Backer has been a hard-working player during her first year of college basketball with the Dutch.

“She is super coachable and since she stepped onto campus, she has not stopped getting better,” Weiland said. “We knew the type of player we were getting when she came in — she has really worked hard on developing her range and getting more consistent from the 3-point line, which was her big thing that I know that she worked on in the offseason. She wanted to be more dangerous from out there.

“She put a ton of work into that — we already knew what she could do off of the dribble. And now she is shooting over 40% from the 3-point line as a freshman, so we are really excited about that.”

Backer, who scored 1,019 career points at New Um High School, put up a season-high 17 points against Nebrasia Wesleyan on Dec. 3 and is averaging 9.3 points per game.

But defensively, Weiland said he is most excited about having Backer on the team.

“That is what we are excited about the most,” he said. “We have a couple of players who defend on the ball nicely but she provides a ton of pressure on the ball — she moves her feet so well laterally — she keeps players in front of her — she is physical with them without fouling them. We have used her on some of he best scoring guards that we have played so far and she has done nothing but limit them.

“We are just excited that we have a strong defensive piece that the more she grows into our system the tougher and more dangerous she is going to be.”

Weiland said Backer has gotten up to the college speed quickly.

“She has a high basketball IQ and has adjusted to the speed and physical play of college basketball,” he added. “And she has got her shot off quicker than she had to in high school because defenses recover quicker than in high school.”

When asked what Backer’s biggest asset is her offense or defense, he said that Backer is a very complete player.

“On the offensive end he is extremely efficient — she does not have to go and shoot the ball 15 times a game to get her points,” he said. “And on the defensive end she might not star in the blocked shots or rebounds, but she is always in the right place — she is always communicating for us and getting stops. So if I had to be honest, she is just an all-around solid complete player for us.”

Weiland said Backer’s first conference game of the year was impressive also.

“She had 17 points in our first conference game of the year and she did it on seven of nine shots while still defending one of the best guards on (Wesleyan) who was averaging 14 points a game and she held her under her average,” he said.

Weiland said that Backer has responded well for being “thrown into the fire” as a freshman.

“She is getting better game after game,” he said. “And with how coachable she is and how much work she puts in on her own, I really feel that she could be All-Conference player — whether that is as a sophomore or junior, it is sometimes up to the voters — but there is a case to be made that she could be in the running for Freshman Player of the Year with the numbers that she is putting up right now. But I think that she is going to be a force in our American Rivers Conference for the next 3 1/2 years.”