Iowa’s Caitlin Clark became the queen of college basketball scoring on Thursday, breaking the women’s Division I career points record in the opening minutes en route to a school-record 49 points as fourth-ranked Iowa pummeled Michigan 106-89 in Iowa City.
Clark wasted no time in completing her pursuit of the record: She entered the game needing eight points to break it and scored each of the Hawkeyes’ first eight points. Clark made a layup 15 seconds into the game, then swished a 3-pointer on an assist from Molly Davis.
After Michigan missed a jumper, Gabbie Marshall corralled the defensive rebound and passed to Clark. At the 7:48 mark of the first quarter, Clark crossed halfcourt with a defender guarding her and fired from the left wing, several feet from the 3-point line. The shot fell through the hoop and the record was hers.
The fans inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena roared, but Iowa didn’t immediately call a timeout. When the Hawkeyes finally did about 40 seconds after Clark’s record-breaking shot, her teammates mobbed her with hugs as she cracked a smile and laughed. Iowa coach Lisa Bluder kissed Clark on the cheek and hugged her.
The 3-pointer raised Clark’s career total to 3,528 points, and Clark ended the night at 3,569. The old mark of 3,527 was set by Washington guard Kelsey Plum from 2013-17.
“It’s cool to be in the same realm of a lot of really good players,” Clark said in a halftime interview on the Peacock broadcast. “I’m lucky to do it because I have really good teammates, really good coaches and a great support system that surrounds me.”
Clark, a 22-year-old senior from West Des Moines, Iowa, was playing in her 126th career game. Plum appeared in 139 games for the Huskies. Her 49 points broke the Iowa women’s record of 48 set by Megan Gustafson against Minnesota in 2018.
Clark appears destined to be selected the consensus national player of the year for a second consecutive season. Entering Tuesday, she was leading the nation with averages of 32.1 points and 8.3 assists per game.
Clark, who logged her fourth 40-point game of the season on Thursday, also has four triple-doubles in 2023-24.
–Field Level Media
