Clark passes Maravich for Division I scoring mark
With her favorite player looking on and another great women’s scorer in attendance, Caitlin Clark became the leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball March 3 against Ohio State.
The record was expected – Clark started the game just 18 points from passing Pete Maravich – but caused a celebration all the same. When Clark hit two free throws with 0.3 seconds to play in the first half, Iowa fans went crazy, in the arena and online. Included in the crowd was former WNBA MVP Maya Moore, Clark’s childhood idol, and Lynette Woodard, previously the best scorer in the history of women’s major-college basketball.
It was a fitting moment for the homegrown superstar who said last week that this would be her last college season and she will enter the 2024 WNBA draft. Clark finished with 35 points (plus nine assists, six rebounds and three steals) in Iowa’s 93-83 win.
Maravich scored 3,667 points at LSU from 1967-70, before freshmen were eligible to play and the 3-point line existed. His record has stood for more than five decades. While some have argued we shouldn’t compare Clark and Maravich because they played in such different eras, there’s no question it’s a milestone worth acknowledging.
And she’s not done yet. Clark will continue to add to her career points total (3,685 and counting) as Iowa begins the postseason. The Hawkeyes have a bye into the Big Ten quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed and will play their first game of the conference tourney March 8. After their run through the conference tournament, Iowa is set to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament as a top-4 seed.
It is possible that Clark, one of the most prolific scorers in the history of basketball, will in the end set a record that might never be broken.