Clark breaks NCAA women's scoring mark

IOWA CITY: Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA women’s career scoring record, making a long 3-pointer in the first quarter for No. 4 Iowa against Michigan on Thursday (Friday in Manila).

Clark went into the game needing eight points to pass Kelsey Plum’s total of 3,527.

She wasted no time, making her first three shots — a layup and two 3s — and scoring Iowa’s first eight points. The record-breaker was a 3 off the dribble on the left wing near the Mediacom Court logo with 7:48 left in the first quarter.

Clark and her dynamic game have captivated the nation for two seasons. Last year, she led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA title game and was named AP Player of the Year. More than just her pursuit of the record, her long 3-pointers and flashy passes have raised interest in the women’s game to unprecedented levels. Arenas have been sold out for her games, home and away, and television ratings have never been higher.

It’s all been more than Clark imagined when the 6-foot guard from West Des Moines stayed in state and picked Iowa over Notre Dame in November 2019.

“I dreamed of doing really big things, playing in front of big crowds, going to the Final Four, maybe not quite on this level,” Clark said. “I think that’s really hard to dream. You can always exceed expectations, even your own, and I think that’s been one of the coolest parts.”

Though her basketball obligations and endorsement deals (State Farm ads, etc.) have put demands on her time, she said she is the same person who showed up on campus four years ago.

“I just go about my business as I did when I was a freshman during Covid,” said Clark, a senior who still has another season of eligibility remaining, if she wants it. “Sure, my life has kind of changed somewhat. I still live the exact same way. I still act like a 22-year-old college kid.”

She said she still cleans her apartment, does laundry, plays video games, hangs out with friends and does schoolwork.

“The best way to debrief and get away from things is getting off your phone, getting off social media and enjoying what’s around you and the people around you and the moments that are happening,” she said.

Her run to the record could have come earlier, but it arrived back at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, where ticket resale prices for the Michigan game ranged from hundreds of dollars into the thousands. Fans again showed up early outside the arena, many wearing black-and-gold No. 22 jerseys and holding signs paying homage.

Mya Anderson and her friend, Ellie Steffensen, both 12, and their moms made the six-hour drive from Canton, South Dakota, to see Clark break the record.

Plum set the previous NCAA record in 2017 as a senior at Washington. Clark’s next target is the all-time major women’s college scoring record of 3,649 points by Kansas star Lynette Woodard from 1977-81. During Woodard’s era, women’s sports were governed by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Pearl Moore of Francis Marion holds the overall women’s record with 4,061 points from 1975-79.