Which NCAA records will fall next for Clark?
Caitlin Clark’s march for the record books — or, more appropriately, March for the record books — continued with the Iowa Hawkeyes’ victories in the first two rounds of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
The most notable record to fall was the single-season scoring record, previously held by Kelsey Plum. Clark surpassed Plum’s mark of 1,109 points in the 2016-17 season with 32 points on Monday against West Virginia, bringing her total to 1,113 points with as many as four games left to extend her record (if the Hawkeyes keep winning).
Clark now holds the first- and fifthhighest scoring seasons in NCAA women’s basketball history. She’s the only player to exceed 1,000 points in a season twice. The Iowa Hawkeyes star holds similar places on the single-season 3pointer leaderboard.
Her 2023-24 campaign had already set the record for most 3-pointers in a season — extended to 181 on Monday — to go along with a 2022-23 season that ranks fourth in NCAA history.
Clark closes in on record for points per game
One of the few major records Clark doesn’t have — yet — is the record for career points per game.
But she’s very, very close.
After the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, Clark has scored 3,830 points in 135 career games. That’s an average of 28.370 points per game.
No other player in NCAA history — the organization’s records for women’s basketball go back to 1982 — has averaged more than 27 points per game … except for Patricia Hoskins.
Hoskins, who played for Mississippi Valley State from 1986 to 1989, scored 3,122 points in 110 career games: an average of 28.382 points per game, or 0.012 more than Clark. (You can tell Clark is close to Hoskins’ record because pergame scoring rates are usually written out to one decimal place, not three.)
Unlike with volume-based statistics, such as total points or total assists, it doesn’t matter too much how many more games Clark gets to play in the
NCAA tournament. She can break the points-per-game record regardless of how many more times she sets foot on the court. If Clark only plays one more game, she can break the record if she scores at least 30 points. But if the Hawkeyes make a run to the Final Four or beyond, she can do so if she averages 29 points in each game. Clark is averaging 31.8 points per game this season, so she’ll have a decent chance, even considering the tougher competition left at this stage of the NCAA tournament.
March Madness records
Through 13 NCAA tournament games in her career, Clark’s statistics are already high on the leaderboards, listed among many names who played in 20 or more tournament games. Clark’s average of 28.5 points per NCAA tournament game — as sterling in March as the rest of the season — is already far and away the best scoring average among players who have participated in at least 10 tourney games. No one else is within five points of Clark in that metric. The Hawkeye sharpshooter is within range of the all-time 3-point record, as well: Four more treys and she’ll pass Diana Taurasi’s record of 61. Career NCAA tournament records for total assists and points are also within reach, although both would likely require the Hawkeyes to make a run to the championship game. Clark is 108 points behind Chamique Holdsclaw’s record of 479 career points in NCAA tournament games and 23 assists behind Temeka Johnson’s 136.
Career points
Four thousand career points — always a longshot — now appears out of reach, as the Hawkeyes would have to make the NCAA championship game and Clark would have to score 42.5 points per game. But Clark will come close. She already has the all-time NCAA scoring record with 3,830 points. How many she accumulates from here on out is entirely dependent on how many rounds the Hawkeyes advance in the tournament. Clark has averaged a little over 30 points per game this season, so she would likely surpass 3,900 points if Iowa reaches the Final Four. That would stretch her all-time scoring record to nearly 400 points more than Kelsey Plum.
Records are made to be broken, but even if Iowa were to bow out of their tournament in their next game, Clark’s name will be written next to so many of them that it’s unlikely she’ll be erased from the history books anytime soon.
Tim Webber is a data visualization specialist for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at twebber@register media.com and on Twitter at @HelloTimWebber.