Caitlin Clark etched her name into the history books Thursday night, scoring a school-record 49 points and setting the all-time NCAA Division I career scoring record for women’s college basketball as No. 4 Iowa beat Michigan 106-89 in Iowa City.
Clark wasted no time in her pursuit of the record. She entered the game with 3,520 points, just eight points shy of passing the mark set by former Washington guard Kelsey Plum. Clark scored Iowa’s first eight points. She began the game sinking a layup, then swished a 3-pointer.
And then, at the 7:48 mark in the first quarter, Clark crossed halfcourt with a defender on her and pulled up several feet from the 3-point line on the left wing, nearly at the midcourt Hawkeye logo, and fired. The shot sank and Clark took sole possession of the record.
“It’s pretty unreal. This crowd is unreal. I’m just really grateful honestly,” Clark said after the win. “I’m filled with a lot of gratitude. It’s so special. These fans deserve it. They’ve supported me since I stepped on campus.”
About 30 seconds after the record-breaker, Iowa called a timeout and Clark was mobbed by her teammates with hugs and laughs. She cracked a smile, too, and Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder kissed her on the cheek and gave her a lasting hug.
When the game resumed, Clark kept scoring, pouring in 23 points in the first quarter.
In a halftime interview with Peacock, Clark acknowledged her accomplishment but kept the focus on what her team needed to do to win. Iowa was up 53-41 at the half.
“It’s cool to be in the same realm of a lot of really good players. I’m lucky to do it because I have really good teammates, really good coaches and a great support system that surrounds me,” Clark said. “But we need to play better defense.”
For the most part, Iowa (23-3, 12-2 Big Ten) did. The Hawkeyes held Michigan (16-10, 7-7) to 15.8 percent shooting from 3-point land (3-for-19) for the game and forced the Wolverines into 14 turnovers.
Michigan never led after the first quarter, while Iowa went ahead by as many as 24 points.
The Wolverines were paced by 16 points and five rebounds from Jordan Hobbs.
Clark also had 13 assists for Iowa, while Kate Martin scored 20 points Hannah Stuelke added 13.
“I’m so happy for Caitlin. When you do it, you do it well, girl,” Bluder said. “She picked a great night to do it. … What she’s done to uplift our program and women’s basketball nationally is spectacular. This record is going to stand for a long time and I’m just glad she’s wearing black-and-gold.”
It was the 126th career game for Clark, a 22-year-old senior from West Des Moines, Iowa. Clark reached and broke the scoring record in 13 fewer games than Plum played in for Washington from 2013-17. The 49 points broke the Iowa women’s record of 48 set by Megan Gustafson against Minnesota in 2018.
“I don’t know if you can really script it any better,” Clark said. “I thought we played really well tonight. I thought our defense could’ve been a little better. Just to do it in this fashion, I’m very grateful. The way these fans support women’s basketball is so special. And yeah, I mean, y’all knew I was going to shoot a logo 3 for the record, come on now. …
“During warmups, my shot felt pretty good. As a shooter, you know, the ball comes off your hand better some nights than others. When you make a couple shots as a shooter, that’s like a green light to just get another one up.”
The reigning national consensus player of the year in women’s college basketball, Clark entered Thursday night averaging a nation-leading 32.1 points per game. She could become the first repeat winner of the AP Player of the Year since UConn’s Breanna Stewart won three in a row from 2014-16.
“Never stop dreaming, because you can achieve way more than you ever thought,” Clark said. “I get to live that every single day.”
–Field Level Media
