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Iowa Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark became the NCAA's top Division I scorer in basketball – male or female – with a win over the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday, surpassing Hall of Famer “Pistol” Pete Maravich.
Clark entered the game with 18 points to pass Maravich and reach the all-time mark of 3,667 points. She set the record with two free throws in the final second of the first half. In a brief halftime interview, she said that the record wasn't on her mind at the time.
“Not really, but when they announced it and everyone was screaming, that’s when I knew,” she said.
Clark finished the game with 35 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds as No. 6 Iowa defeated No. 2 Ohio State 93-83, giving her a career total of 3,685 points.
After the game, she said she was still “taking it all in.”
“I’m just really grateful for all these people who stay with us and support us and have supported us over the course of my four years,” she said. “I probably won’t realize it until a little later, but I’m just going to enjoy it with my family and my teammates and just be really grateful to be in this place.”
The 22-year-old senior is known for her sharp shooting skills and skillful play. She has become one of the biggest names of all time in college sports and recently set the all-time scoring record in NCAA women's basketball. Her first-half performance against Ohio State on Sunday was representative of her skills, as she took 15 shots, 10 from long range, and added six assists as defenders tried to stop her.
Last year, Clark shot into the public eye with her incredible play in March Madness when she led Iowa to the national championship game, the first title game appearance in school history. There, Iowa lost to the LSU Tigers in a game marked by a notable argument between Clark and LSU forward Angel Reese.
Since then, Clark has become the dominant force in all of college basketball. Now her popularity knows no bounds away from the court.
Clark's University of Iowa jerseys and T-shirts have become online retailer Fanatics' best-selling collegiate athletic edition since the company began selling collegiate sportswear in 2022, the website told . She has also signed deals with Gatorade, Nike and State Farm, among others.
Her record-breaking performance on Sunday was praised by everyone Lebron James, who holds the NBA's scoring record. sports analyst Christine Brennan said Clark's achievement was a milestone in the history of women's sports and changed the way people view basketball.
“I think Caitlin makes a lot of us look at this sport, which is such an American institution, from a different perspective,” she said.
The NCAA Division I basketball record of 3,667 career points was set in 1970 by “Pistol Pete” Maravich, the Hall of Famer known for his creative play, outside shooting and moggy hair. At LSU, Maravich scored over 44 points on 38 attempts per game over three seasons at a time when there was no three-point line, no shot clock and freshmen weren't allowed to play. He died in 1988 at the age of 40.
His son Jaeson Maravich told Yahoo Sports last week that the records were a “comparison of apples and oranges,” but added, “I think my dad would have been a big fan of hers.”
Last month, Clark became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball, surpassing Kelsey Plum of the University of Washington. She also became the all-time leading scorer in women's major college basketball history, surpassing Lynette Woodard, who played for Kansas under her predecessor, who went to the NCAA.
Cliff Jette/AP
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark broke the scoring record with two free throws at the end of the first half.
A Des Moines, Iowa native, Clark's 2020 commitment to her home state university has proven to be a masterstroke for herself, the Hawkeyes and women's basketball in general.
Clark took charge of the Iowa offense almost immediately, averaging nearly 27 points as a freshman. In her third season with the team, Iowa reached its first NCAA basketball national championship game, with Clark continuing her high scoring rate, adding over 7 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game.
One of the most impressive things about Clark's career was her year-to-year progress. This season, she is averaging just over 32 points – by far the most of her career – on a solid shooting percentage (46.9%), including nearly 40% from three-point range.
And the more she developed, the more attention her game received.
“I started in a year where there was Covid and you only play in front of your family and cardboard cutouts,” she told TNT Sports in October 2023. “And now, in my last year, I'm playing in front of 15,000 spectators.” Guys, it's special, it's historic.
“There’s never been anything like this in women’s basketball,” she said.
Like Steph Curry in the NBA and Sabrina Ionescu in the WNBA, Clark's ability to hit defense-breaking threes from downtown has made her an elite talent and a social media darling.
Clark said last week that she will enter the WNBA Draft at the end of this season, foregoing a final year of participation. She will likely play for the Indiana Fever after the team won the No. 1 overall pick in the lottery.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the score. Caitlin Clark became the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer in men's and women's basketball.