THE OTHER SCORING SENSATION
Beyer is small-school scoring phenom Iowa’s Clark might never catch
On the same night Caitlin Clark was adding to her NCAA women’s basketball scoring record before a packed house in Indiana, and a national audience on television, the Iowa sensation was losing ground to the most prolific active scorer in her sport.
In a gymnasium smaller than those of many high schools, where hundreds of fans scattered across sets of retractable bleachers, Grace Beyer was pouring in 40 points for the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in a close loss to Cottey College.
That pushed the career total for the fifth-year senior to 3,842 points, 249 ahead of Clark, who had scored 24 in the Hawkeyes’ loss to the Hoosiers last Thursday night. Beyer added another 32 points on Saturday in a win over Hannibal-LaGrange, breaking Miriam Walker-Samuels’ record for an NAIA school and moving her into fifth place in college basketball history.
Men or women, NCAA or NAIA, regardless of division.
“What she’s doing,” said Beyer’s coach, Jillian Lipman-Segura, “is just remarkable. She makes everything look so easy.”
The contrast is stark in the way Clark and Beyer have been chasing history in the twilight of their careers.
Ever since helping the Hawkeyes reach the national championship game last season, and famously feuding with LSU standout Angel Reese, Clark has become perhaps the most bankable star in the history of the women’s college game.
Fans have lined up for hours all season, often in freezing cold, to watch her make those 30-foot 3-pointers. Tickets went for more than a $1,000 on the secondary market as Clark approached Kelsey Plum’s NCAA women’s scoring record. And in the era of Name, Image and Likeness legislation that has allowed Clark to monetize her fame, she has popped up in advertisements for