The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Clark climbs the all-time scoring list
Caitlin Clark scored 32 points, moving into fourth place on the all-time NCAA Division I women’s basketball scoring list, to help No. 2 Iowa beat Wisconsin 96-50 late Tuesday night.
Clark now has 3,306 career points and passed Baylor’s Brittney Griner (3,283 points) on the all-time list with the first of two free throws with 7:02 left in the first half. Kelsey Plum (Washington 2013-17) holds the record at 3,527 points.
It’s “kind of full circle,” said Clark, who recalled seeing Griner and Baylor play in an NCAA Tournament regional final in 2012 in Des Moines, close to Clark’s hometown of West Des Moines.
“I was still pretty young,” Clark said. “I think that was (Tennessee coach) Pat Summitt’s last game, I do remember that. That’s like my core memory of Brittney Griner. Just to be in the same vicinity of some of those names is super special. It’s cool, they’re people I grew up watching. So it’s special.”
Clark said she has learned to appreciate the historic moments that are growing in her career.
“It’s hard for me to wrap my head around all of it,” she said. “I’m just trying to stay in the moment, enjoy every single second of it.”
Clark, the nation’s leading scorer at 30.9 points per game, missed her first four shots and didn’t have a field goal in the first nine minutes of the game. But she finished 8 of 18 from the field, 6 of 14 on 3-pointers, 10 of 10 from the line, with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in 33 minutes.
Kate Martin had 16 points and Sydney Affolter had 12 for the Hawkeyes (18-1, 7-0 Big Ten).
Top 25 men NEW MEXICO 99, NO. 16 UTAH STATE 86 >>
Nelly Joseph scored a seasonhigh 26 points, and former Centennial High star Donovan Dent had 15 points and a career-high 14 assists in the Lobos’ second straight victory over a ranked opponent. New Mexico (15-3, 3-2 Mountain West) had six players in double figures. Jaelen House added 14 points for New Mexico, which beat thenno. 19 San Diego State on Saturday. Ian Martinez scored 22 points for Utah State (16-2, 4-1), which had its nation’s-longest 15-game winning streak snapped.
NO. 2 PURDUE 87, INDIANA 66 >> Zach Edey had 33 points and 14 rebounds as the Boilermakers (16-2, 5-2 Big Ten) won at Assembly Hall for the first time in three seasons. Edey was 11 of 23 from the field and 11 for 12 at the free throw line for Purdue. KANSAS STATE 68, NO. 9 BAYLOR 64, OT >> Arthur Kaluma converted a four-point play to give Kansas State the lead with 20 seconds left in overtime, and Tylor Perry added a pair of free throws with 6.9 seconds to go, helping the Wildcats beat Baylor in Manhattan, Kansas.
• Baylor was the highest of the five ranked teams to lose Tuesday night. The others: Penn State 87, No. 11 Wisconsin 83; Cincinnati 81, No. 19 TCU 77, OT, and No. 20 BYU 87, No. 24 Iowa State 72.