Caitlin Clark breaks women’s career scoring record
IOWA CITY, IOWA >> 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 career-high 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.
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.
Clark went into the game needing eight points to pass Plum’s total of 3,527. The recordbreaker was a 3 off the dribble on the left wing near the Mediacom Court logo with 7:45 left in the first quarter.
“It’s cool. It’s cool to be in the same realm as a lot of really, really good players,” Clark said at halftime in a televised interview. “I’m lucky to do it because I have really good teammates and really good coaches and a great support system that surrounds me.”
Plum established the previous record as a senior at Washington in 2017. 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.
Iowa has four regularseason games left, plus the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. Barring injury, Clark, a senior who averages 32.1 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.
The crowd 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.
Among those offering congratulations on social media was 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.
Bluder called a timeout shortly thereafter, and Clark hugged teammates and coaches during a brief celebration.
“Just grateful. Thankful to be surrounded by people and be in a city that supports women’s basketball so much,” Clark said. “Be surrounded by my best friends and people that want to see me be great and push me to be great every single day.”