There’s never been a player in college basketball like Caitlin Clark.
Now she has the record to prove it.
Clark became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball Thursday night, hitting a long 3-pointer in the first quarter of No. 4 Iowa’s 106-89 home win against Michigan to surpass Kelsey Plum’s mark of 3,527 points.
She scored Iowa’s first eight points in the first three minutes of the game and embraced her teammates during a stoppage in play to celebrate the achievement.
Clark didn’t stop there, finishing the first quarter with 23 points on 8-for-10 shooting, adding four assists before finishing with a career-high 49 points to go with 13 assists. Clark’s huge night put her at 3,569 points.
“I don’t know if you could script it any better,” Clark said. “Just to do it in this fashion, I’m very grateful and thankful to be surrounded by so many people who have been my foundation in everything I’ve done since I was a young little girl. You all knew I was going to shoot the logo 3 for the record.”
It’s a crowning achievement for the senior guard, who has redrawn the geometry of the women’s basketball court with her audacious long-range shooting — bringing the “logo 3” into the vernacular of the college game — and helped elevate her sport to record crowds and television ratings.
“I’m so happy for Caitlin,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “Not only does she go over the top of the scoring record, she has 49 tonight. When you do it you do it well, girl.
“She picked a great night to do. We’re going to celebrate Caitlin tonight. She deserves it.”
The 22-year-old came into the game needing eight points to break the record after scoring 31 — but getting shut out in the fourth quarter — in Sunday’s upset loss at Nebraska.
“It’s not been a distraction at all,” Clark said after that game of the record chase. “When it happens, it happens. It’s really not going to affect my life that much. I’m just going to keep going about my business as I have the last four years. Pointing to my teammates and hopefully leading this team to reach our goals.”
Clark, averaging 32.1 points per game entering Thursday, is on pace toward finishing just short of 4,000 career points, depending on how far Iowa can go in the NCAA Tournament.
In the coming weeks, she is likely to surpass Pete Maravich, who holds the all-time Division I record with 3,667 points.
The former LSU wunderkind established that record in just three seasons (freshmen weren’t eligible) and did not have the benefit of the 3-point shot.
Clark can put the scoring record out of reach were she to return next fall for a fifth college season, also known as a “COVID year” of extra eligibility.
But she is expected to leave school to enter April’s WNBA draft — the Indiana Fever hold the No. 1-overall pick.
Clark, 22, began the season in 25th place on the all-time points list after steadily boosting her scoring in each of her three previous campaigns.
Clark led the country with 26.6 points per game as a freshman and again with 27 per game as a sophomore before ranking second with 27.8 points per game last season, when she was the consensus national player of the year and led the Hawkeyes to the national title game.
Plum, who established the previous record from 2013-17, now stars for the two-time defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.
Clark also is one of five women’s players in Division I history to surpass 1,000 career assists, and at 148 behind all-time leader Andrea Nagy, has an outside chance to break that record as well.
— With AP
