Caitlin Clark grew up watching some of the most prolific scorers in Division I women's college basketball, and now her name sits above them.
The Iowa State superstar broke the all-time scoring record on Thursday. She passed former record holder Kelsey Plumb, who played in 139 games with Washington from 2013 to 2017 and totaled 3,527 points.
“The coolest thing is just the names that I'm around,” Clark, 22, said when he took second place on the list on Jan. 31. “Those are guys I grew up watching, especially Kelsey Plumb and Britney Greiner and Kelsey Mitchell. They're really, really good players.”
Clark, a 6-foot senior point guard, broke the all-time record in his 126th game against Michigan. She scored 31 points Sunday against Nebraska, and after she hit a record-breaking shot early in the first quarter against the Wolverines, she needed just eight points Thursday.
Clark broke the historic record by pulling up from well beyond the 3-point line and hitting a deep shot from the left side. Pulling up in a manner befitting the moment and her personality, it was her third bucket of the day and her eighth point, dropping from well beyond her logo distance.
It is worth looking at it from different angles, so please understand its greatness here as well.
The current Naismith and Wood Award winner is averaging 32.1 points, seven rebounds and 8.3 assists per game. His 47.3 field goal percentage on 22 attempts per game is a career high, and his 39.3 percent 3-point percentage per game is close to his freshman career high.
She holds the male or female record for most games with 30 or more points (51 points) over the past 25 years, with 11 games with at least 40 points. Four of those games were against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. She has only scored in single digits once in her career, and that was at the beginning of her freshman season. Clark has scored at least 20 points in every game this season.
It's not just the numbers she achieved that inspire awe, but the way she does it. The way she can pull off logos, and regularly does so, it feels like her range is limitless. Transition 3 instantly dashes your opponent's hopes, whether it's early in a close game or in the final seconds. She's also quick enough to outrun defenders on the perimeter and strong enough to power up and-ones at the basket. And her elite court vision provides a highlight reel that others can't even see, let alone achieve.
National attention is likely to continue. She is on track to break Pete Maravich's all-time scoring record for DI men in less than a month. And No. 2 ranked Iowa State is a Final Four favorite with a chance to win its first national championship in April.
Clark captures national attention as he chases record
In December, Clark's record-breaking achievement garnered national attention, making her the 15th player in DI women's history to score 3,000 points. She entered the season with 2,717 points, a number boosted by her historic back-to-back 40-point performances heading into the 2023 National Championship Game.
Three of the five most-watched women's basketball games this season involve Iowa State. Last month's overtime loss to Ohio State averaged 1.93 million viewers, the highest for a network game since 2010, and the Feb. 3 Maryland game averaged 1.58 million viewers. watched it.
Iowa State fans sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena during season ticket sales in August, and the Hawkeyes played in front of sold-out crowds in all but two road games.
Ticket sales for the potentially record-breaking game at Nebraska, like other road contests, started selling in the hundreds to thousands. Fans line up for hours before tipoff to enter the arena with autographs and Clark gear, then wait several hours to get autographs.
Clark approaches Maravich's scoring record
The focus now shifts to Pete Maravich's DI college record of 3,667 points. The LSU men's basketball legend played his three seasons from 1967 to 1970. There was no 3-point line or shot clock, and the freshmen couldn't play on the varsity team. Maravich's son sees them as completely different records, as they come from very different eras.
Clark averaged 27.2 points over a solid three-year career and is averaging a career-high 32.1 points entering the season. At the current clip, she will overtake Maravich within five games.
That means there's a chance for another record to be broken in the final game of the season at home against Ohio State on March 3rd. Clark scored 45 points in an overtime loss to the Buckeyes last month, setting the hottest four-game scoring streak of his career. This matchup could decide the Big Ten regular season title.
She also has a chance to surpass the DI women's season and career scoring average records. Mississippi Valley State's Patricia Hoskins averaged 33.6 ppg in 1989 and 28.4 ppg from 1985-1989. She played her second season, in which her 3-pointer was included in the statistics. As of February 12, Clark's career average is 28.2 ppg, and his 38.1% mark from beyond the arc is just a few makes away from Mitchell's career record of 38.6%.
Iowa is likely to do well in both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, and the Hawkeyes are projected to be the No. 1 seed. Reaching each of these title games would extend the Hawkeyes' season by nine games (three games for the Big Ten, six games for the NCAA).
Clark may choose to remain for a fifth season after receiving a COVID-19 eligibility waiver. If she chooses to enter the WNBA Draft, she will likely be selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever one week after the NCAA Championship Game is played in Cleveland.
