IOWA CITY, Iowa (news agencies) — Caitlin Clark wasted no time becoming the NCAA women’s career scoring leader Thursday night, taking less than three minutes to score the eight points she needed to break Kelsey Plum’s record.
The Iowa star who has brought unprecedented attention to women’s basketball surpassed the record with her signature shot — a 35-foot 3-pointer that hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
And Clark didn’t let up from there. She finished with a school-record 49 points, tied her career best with nine 3-pointers and had 13 assists in No. 4 Iowa’s 106-89 victory over Michigan.
Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder took Clark out of the game with 1:46 left, shortly after she made her final 3, and she went to the bench to an ovation from the sellout crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“I don’t know if you could script it any better,” Clark said. “Just to do it in this fashion, I’m very grateful and thankful to be surrounded by so many people who have been my foundation in everything I’ve done since I was a young little girl. You all knew I was going to shoot the logo 3 for the record.”
Clark’s huge night put her at 3,569 points and within 80 of her next milestone, Lynette Woodard’s major women’s college scoring record of 3,649.
The record-breaker was a 3 off the dribble on the left wing near the Mediacom Court logo with 7:45 left in the first quarter.
“Warming up, my shot just felt good, so I knew it was going to be kind of one of those nights,” she said. “I played with a little more pep in my step.”
Clark set the record in 126 games, 13 fewer than Plum, who finished with 3,527 points in four seasons at Washington from 2013-17. Woodard starred at Kansas from 1977-81, an era when women’s sports were governed by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Pearl Moore of Francis Marion holds the overall women’s record with 4,061 points from 1975-79. Woodard and Moore played before the 3-point line was introduced.
Iowa has four regular-season games left, plus the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. Barring injury, Clark, a senior who averages 32.8 points per game, is all but certain to pass Woodard. And she has the option to return for a fifth season of college basketball because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fans started chanting “One more year! One more year!” while Clark, who is projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, was doing a postgame television interview.
“I paid them,” Bluder said, drawing laughs. “I thought it was a pretty good chant.”
Among those offering congratulations on social media were former president Barack Obama and LSU star Angel Reese, who shared the spotlight with Clark in last season’s national championship game won by the Tigers. The Big Ten Network put out a congratulatory compilation video that included Tom Brady and Peyton and Eli Manning.
Iowa won the tip and Clark, guarded by Laila Phelia, drove to the basket and banked in a shot from the right side. Clark hit a 3 from the left wing on Iowa’s next possession. The Hawkeyes turned the ball over twice before Clark took a pass from Gabbie Marshall in transition, stopped and and shot from deep.
When the ball went through, the fans — many of them standing and holding up phones to capture the moment — let loose a huge roar.
“It was absolutely perfect,” Bluder said, “for her to go over and reach this record with a logo 3.”
Bluder called a timeout shortly thereafter, and Clark hugged teammates and coaches during a brief celebration.
“That was never really my goal, to get it done really fast,” Clark said. “I hit my first couple shots, and I was able to get another one up pretty fast. It was nice to get it done there fairly quick so we could move on and focus on winning the basketball game.”
Clark, who scored 40 points or more for the 12th time, had 23 in the first quarter and went on to play one of her best games. She scored or assisted on 79 points, the most by a Division I women’s player in at least 25 years, according to OptaSTATS.
Clark and her dynamic play have captivated the nation for two seasons. Last year, she led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA title game and was named news agencies player of the year. More than just her pursuit of the record, her long 3-pointers and flashy passes have raised interest in the women’s game. Arenas have been sold out for her games, home and away, and television ratings have never been higher.
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