CAITLIN CLARKS DECIDE TO…..
Well that didn’t take long.
With — what else? — a logo 3 just 132 seconds into the game vs. Michigan on Thursday, Caitlin Clark, the senior from Iowa, surpassed former Washington All-American Kelsey Plum to move into first place in the NCAA scoring record book.
“You all knew I was going to shoot a logo 3 for the record. Come on now,” Clark said after the game.
She didn’t stop there, though, finishing the night with a school-record (and personal best) 49 points in Iowa’s 106-89 win over Michigan.
She is on pace to break Pete Maravich’s record of 3,667 points, set from 1967-70 when he played at LSU, toward the end of Iowa’s regular season. But the record that might matter even more to women’s basketball historians and junkies is 3,649. That’s how many points Lynette Woodard, a Wichita native, scored when she played at Kansas from 1977-81. That was before the NCAA ran women’s college sports though, so Woodard’s record is in the AIAW record books instead of the NCAA record books.
Clark surpassing Woodard and Maravich would quiet anyone complaining about Clark’s record not being legitimate. And given how many games she has left this season, it’s possible Clark will set a scoring mark so high, no one could come close to reaching it. — Lindsay Schnell
Clark pushed her all-time point total to 3,569 points. Every point she scores from here on out will just add to the NCAA women’s record.
To commemorate Caitlin Clark becoming the top scorer in women’s NCAA basketball history, USA TODAY Sports spoke to Clark’s friends, family, opponents and admirers — including Stephen Curry and Maya Moore — about some of the biggest and best shots of her illustrious career, letting them explain what makes the 6-foot point guard so special. Read Lindsay Schnell’s full feature here.