Iowa guard Caitlin Clark is tracking toward the all-time NCAA Division I scoring record after setting the Hawkeyes’ points mark with 2,813.
Clark jumped to No. 1 on Iowa’s all-time scoring list Sunday at Northern Iowa and is fewer than 200 points from breaking into the top 15 in women’s college basketball history.
“It was like 15 or 16 points — and once I crossed 16 I didn’t even know,” said Clark of setting the school scoring record.
A rapidly expanding legacy stretches far beyond women’s basketball scoring achievements. She could be the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball history before the NCAA Tournament begins.
Clark is averaging 32 points per game for the 3-0 Hawkeyes this season.
At her current pace, Clark would claim the all-time women’s scoring title on Feb. 15 — a home game against Michigan. She could take down the all-time college basketball scoring record during the Big Ten conference tournament.
Clark had 38 points at Michigan last season and scored 38 and 46 — her top single-game total at Iowa — in two games against the Wolverines as a sophomore.
Her personal best of 60 came in high school. She set the Iowa state single-game record with 13 3-pointers the same night against Mason City High School.
Kelsey Plum, a guard for the Washington Huskies, holds the record for points in women’s college basketball at 3,527. She played 139 games and averaged 25.4 points in her college career. Pete Maravich is the all-time scoring leader in college basketball with 3,667. Maravich played on the freshman team in 1966-67 and in his next three seasons at LSU, he averaged over 43 points per game, had four games with 60-plus points and set the NCAA record with 69 points in a 1970 win over Alabama. There was no 3-point line or shot clock in college at that time.
Already, Clark is being viewed in a similar light.
“Caitlin Clark is the best player in the country,” Northern Iowa coach Tanya Warren said after witnessing Clark’s 12th career triple-double. “No ifs, ands or buts about it. You’re not going to stop her, you’re not going to contain her.”
In addition to 32 points per game, Clark is averaging 9.0 assists and 8.3 rebounds this season.
Clark tied Elena Delle Donne’s record as the fastest to reach 2,000 career points in her 75th career game and owns the Big Ten single-season points record with 1,055 last season.
Clark averaged 27.8 points as a junior and put up 44 at Virginia Tech last week. A fourth-year senior, Clark, 21, could return for one more season in 2024-25 due to COVID-19 eligibility rules. She’s also already in the top 15 in women’s college basketball for career rebounds.
“I love my girls. But sometimes you’re playing checkers and she’s playing chess,” Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks said. “She’s that good.
“She is a generational player.”
Maine’s Cindy Blodgett is 15th (3,005), USC’s Cheryl Miller 14th (3,018) and Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw 13th (3,025). At her current pace, Clark could jump all three before Big Ten play begins, with UConn’s Maya Moore (3,036) and Delle Donne (3,039) up next.
Megan Gustafson was Iowa’s record-holder for career points with 2,804 from 2015-19, 498 more than men’s record-holder Luka Garza.
“Can’t say enough about what Caitlin means to the program, she earned this record,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said.
–Field Level Media
