Caitlin Clark breaks the NCAA basketball all-time record
Iowa's Caitlin Clark is the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball. Lindsay Schnell explains what's next for the rising star.
Caitlin Clark and No. 6 Iowa traveled to a Big Ten showdown against Minnesota on Wednesday night and earned a 108-60 win for the Hawkeyes. It was another record-breaking night for Clark. It wasn't just about increasing her score, but more about how she did it. (See: LOTS of 3s.)
Clark, who now holds the all-time scoring record in NCAA Division I women's basketball, needed just 51 points on Wednesday to pass Pete Maravich. Who is Pistol Pete, you ask?
Maravich played for LSU from 1967 to 1970 and scored 3,667 points in just three years. He did this at a time when freshmen couldn't play varsity basketball, there was no shot clock and no 3-point line.
Clark, nicknamed “Ponytail Pete,” has one game left in the regular season and needs just 18 points to beat Maravich. The Hawkeyes face No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday afternoon in Iowa City. While this is Senior Day, Clark has not said whether she will return for a possible fifth year – which she is eligible to do due to the COVID season is.
Tickets for this game average more than $500.
OPINION: Caitlin Clark and her achievements stand alone. Stop comparing her to Pistol Pete
Considering how hot she started, we probably should have seen this coming: Caitlin Clark recorded her 17th career triple-double, posting 33 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in Iowa's 108-60 win.
It was just one of a handful of records Clark set in Iowa's stunning victory Wednesday night. Clark has now officially scored more points than Lynette Woodard and shot more three-pointers in a single season than any other player.
Speaking of 3s, Iowa made a season-high 21 against Minnesota. Clark shot 8 of 14 from distance, but she was far from the only one feeling it. Gabbie Marshall (16 points, four 3s), Taylor McCabe (15 points, five 3s), Kylie Feuerbach (13 points, four 3s) and Molly Davis (11 points, one 3) also scored in double figures.
As Caitlin Clark has moved up the scoring charts this season, some have pointed out that her goal production, while impressive, cannot match former Kansas standout Lynette Woodard.
Now it is like this. In fact, it exists.
With a 3 with 4:29 to play, Clark surpassed the long-time leader in major college women's basketball that Woodard set from 1978 to 1981. This was before the NCAA ran women's sports, so Woodard's record is limited to the AIAW record books. She said the NCAA needs to recognize and incorporate the AIAW-era scoring records, especially because they already do exactly that with the coaches' records.
For many, Clark overtaking Woodard will legitimize Clark and everything she has done.
Iowa continues its absurd 3-minute shooting, scoring 16 with 10 minutes to play. At this point I'm just waiting for Hannah Stuelke to make an attempt from deep.
Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark posted her second straight triple-double and the 17th of her career. She has 30 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in three quarters. She is also an efficient 11 of 17 from the field, including 7 of 11 from 3.
Iowa dominates in every facet of the game, from team points (36-16) to bench points (28-9) to fast break points (30-1).
And we still have a completely different quarter ahead of us. This is certainly not an ideal senior night for Minnesota.
Ho-hum, another day, another milestone for Caitlin Clark.
This time, with her seventh three-pointer of the night – with 7:16 left in the third, no less – Clark set an NCAA single-season record for three-pointers made with 155. She surpasses former Idaho star Taylor Pierce, who hit 154 treys in the 2018-19 season.
It is worth noting that the career 3-point record belongs to Taylor Robertson, the sharpshooter who played at Oklahoma from 2018 to 2023. She had 537 in her career. Clark now has 502. Could she catch Robertson?
It seems inevitable that Caitlin Clark will set a new career high for 3s made in a single game. Her high is nine, she already has six and we still have 20 minutes to play. Quality.
She leads all scorers overall with 21 points on 7 of 11 shots. She scored or assisted on 21 of Iowa's 30 points in the first quarter.
But Clark is far from the only one connecting from deep: As a team, Iowa has already shot 12 (12!) 3s and is shooting 57% from beyond the arc. Not that bad. The Hawkeyes showered Kylie Feuerbach with three and Gabbie Marshall with two. (By the way, Marshall has officially reached 1,000 career points.)
Additionally, Clark also has six assists, including this nifty bounce pass to Marshall in the lane:
A good way to build a 14-point lead in the first period is to go on several 9-0 runs. The first was all Caitlin Clark (no surprise!) and the second involved a few Hawkeyes. And so Iowa has a 30-16 lead.
And Clark has already scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Not too bad, especially after a few tough games in the last few weeks where Clark didn't shoot particularly well. She scored 35 points last time out for the Golden Gophers. Can she top that tonight?
As a team, Iowa has a 61% shooting percentage – that's how you don't cause an upset, Minnesota. And Clark isn't the only one with a hot hand: Kylie Feuerbach is also 2 of 3 from distance.
Iowa also leads 10-0 in fast break points. Right now, the Hawkeyes are scoring from wherever they want.
Nothing beats a little 9-0 run from the reigning national player of the year to start the game.
Caitlin Clark scored nine points in a row – including a logo 3, of course – before Minnesota finally got on the court. Then Clark responded by hitting… another 3.
She is 51 away from that record and logic would mean she will break it on Sunday, Senior Day, when Iowa plays Ohio State. But perhaps Clark has other plans considering she already has 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting. She has also already grabbed three rebounds.
Looks like it's going to be a long night for the Golden Gophers.
The Hawkeyes (24-4, 13-3 Big Ten) travel to Williams Arena in Minneapolis to take on the Gophers (15-12, 5-11) on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. The game will be shown on the streaming service Peacock. Cindy Brunson will handle play-by-play duties, with Julianna Viani serving as analyst.
The Hawkeyes fell to No. 6 after a loss to Indiana. After tonight's game at Minnesota, they have one more regular season game at home, against No. 2 Ohio State on Senior Day.
The effort, Caitlin Clark's eventual 3,668. Calling Point a milestone or important moment for women's sports is the kind of illogical nonsense that can only lead to unnecessary backlash, writes Dan Wolken.
Clark enters Wednesday's game with 3,617 career points, just 51 shy of passing Pete Maravich on the all-time scoring list. She is averaging 32.1 points per game this season and has two regular-season games, as well as Big Ten and NCAA tournament games, remaining.
Clark's highest-scoring game was also her record-setting performance on February 15 against Michigan in the 2023-24 season, when she scored 49 points. Clark shot 16 of 31 in the game, including 9 of 18 from 3. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out 13 assists in the 106-89 win.
Do you love Caitlin Clark or do you love Caitlin Clark?
Love her, hate her, like her or think she's overrated, one thing is for sure: the senior guard from Iowa has serious game. Don't know exactly where you stand? We can help you. This USA TODAY Sports quiz will reveal the answer to a crucial question as we prepare for March Madness: What kind of Caitlin Clark fan are you? —Lindsay Quick
Here is a breakdown of Clark's points for the Hawkeyes this season:
- vs. Illinois, 02/25/24: 24 points
- at Indiana, 02/22/24: 24 points
- vs. Michigan, 02/15/24: 49 points (season high, school record for a single game)
- vs. Nebraska, 02/11/24: 31 points
- vs. Penn State, 2/8/24: 27 points
- at Maryland, 02/03/24: 38 points
- at Northwestern, 1/31/24: 35 points
- vs. Nebraska, January 27, 2024: 38 points
- at Ohio State, January 21, 2024: 45 points
- vs. Wisconsin, January 16, 2024: 32 points
- vs. Indiana, January 13, 2024: 30 points
- at Purdue, January 10, 2024: 26 points
- at Rutgers, January 5, 2024: 29 points
- vs. Michigan State, February 1, 2024: 40 points
- vs. Minnesota, December 30, 2023: 35 points
- vs. Loyola Chicago, December 21, 2023: 35 points
- vs. Cleveland State, December 16, 2023: 38 points
- in Wisconsin, December 10, 2023: 28 points
- vs. Iowa State, December 6, 2023: 35 points
- vs. Bowling Green, December 2nd, 2023: 24 points
- vs. Kansas State, November 26, 2023: 32 points
- vs. Florida Gulf Coast, November 25, 2023: 21 points
- vs. Purdue Fort Wayne, November 24, 2023: 29 points
- vs. Drake, November 19, 2023: 35 points
- vs. Kansas State, November 16, 2023: 24 points
- at UNI, November 12, 2023: 24 points
- vs. Virginia Tech, November 9, 2023: 44 points
- vs. FDU, November 6th, 2023: 28 points
Yes, Clark is a senior…but she could come back next year and be a super senior if she wanted to.
Although she is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, she could return to Iowa City next season. Since Clark was a freshman in the 2020-21 season, she has a COVID year (basically, that season didn't count toward anyone's eligibility).
The biggest show in sports is humming along, storming the nation, hitting logo threes and breaking records as February approaches the madness of March, bringing us closer to the answer to two intriguing questions:
Will Caitlin Clark spend her fifth COVID year in Iowa or will she go to the WNBA? And will she represent the United States at the Paris Olympics this summer?
The first question is completely in her control and it is entirely up to her to answer it. Comes Clark, a fourth-grader who gets a COVID year if she wants it, back to Iowa to sink three-pointers and throw in no-look passes and fill arenas around the Big Ten and the nation that are basically one will be? and the same until the start of the 2024-25 season? Or will she go to the WNBA, where she will be the No. 1 pick in the draft and immediately become the best-known professional player in the women's game, even if playing with and against the best players in the world is inevitable? –Christine Brennan
Follow Lindsay Schnell on social media @Lindsay_Schnell