Clark officially stands alone at the top of the record books, passing Pete Maravich as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I women’s and men’s basketball.
The Iowa State point guard needed 18 points to pass Maravich entering Sunday’s final regular-season game against Ohio State. She scored 11 points for Iowa in two straight quarters and made two free throws just before halftime to break her record.
After Cotie McMahon of Ohio State argued a ruling with 0.3 seconds left in the second quarter, referees called a dead-ball technical penalty, and Clark was awarded the free throws. With her first basket, she tied Maravich at 17 points. She then scored her second to go ahead of Maravich and make it 47-39 for Iowa.
Clark told, Allison Williams at halftime that she doesn’t think about her record while she’s fighting.
“Not really,” Clark responded when asked if she was thinking about the record throughout the session. “But then when they announced it and everybody screamed, that’s when I knew. Pretty cool.”
Regardless of Maravich’s record quest, Clark won a high-stakes game against her. The season finale for both her sixth-ranked Hawkeyes and No. 2 Ohio State had significance for NCAA tournament positioning.
With a 15-3 conference record, Iowa won the game, 93-83, to guarantee the No. 2 seed in the forthcoming Big Ten tournament. Despite losing to 16-2, Ohio State is still ranked as the top seed. Clark ended with nine assists, six rebounds, three steals, and a game-high 35 points. She made 10 of 26 field goals and 6 of 17 3-pointers.
The Buckeyes battled to maintain a competitive edge following a 71-54 hole in the third quarter. However, they were never able to get within eight points of the lead.
What record would Clark set?
Clark averaged 32.2 points per game, a record level that has been considered untouchable for most of the past 54 years. Maravich scored 3,667 points in a three-year career at LSU that ended in 1970.
Clark also has time to add to his career total. The Hawkeyes will have up to three more games to play, as Iowa will play in the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis this week. A repeat of the NCAA Championship Game in April would add six more games. With her scoring average, Clark could potentially add nearly 300 more points to her total score.
The Hawkeyes remain a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament and are expected to host their first two games in Iowa City. Domestic locations are Portland and Albany, New York.
However, she declared late last week that she will enter the WNBA Draft, forgoing the additional year of eligibility permitted by the COVID-19 waiver, therefore this was her final regular season game at home. Fans will attend the draft for the first time since the Seattle Storm selected four-time NCAA champion Breanna Stewart in 2016; the Indiana Fever have the No. 1 pick.
Ahead of the Senior Day celebration, Nike unveiled her six-story Clark billboard in downtown Iowa City. The girls leaned out of the back seat to take photos of the crew holding up the banners, and passing fans posed with them as well.
The company, which is one of Clark’s many endorsement deals, also put up signs with quotes about the evolution of Clark’s career and the fan base she has built over four years.
“Caitlin Clark shouldn’t be allowed to play in a boys tournament,” read the first one from 2009.
“Caitlin Clark is the biggest star in basketball,” according to a 2023 report.
Comparison of Clark and Maravich
Maravich and Clark were players in radically different eras. Freshmen were not eligible for varsity play, and there was no 3-point line throughout Maravich’s tenure. As the primary offensive weapon used by head coach Peter “Press” Maravich, his father, he attempted 38.1 shots per game. Over the course of his 83 games, he averaged 44.2 points per game.
For many years, Pistol Pete’s illustrious mark was on lists of records that were unlikely to fall. Guard Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy fell short last season, but because he was just in his fifth season, many dismissed the threat. In 143 games, he scored 3,664 points at an average of 25.4 points per contest on 40.8% shooting from the field.
Clark enters his senior season at the University of Iowa with 2,717 career points, 1,055 of which came as a junior as the University of Iowa advanced to the Final Four. She has been a solid scorer with 27 points, but she is under more pressure this season following the graduations of Monica Zinano and McKenna Warnock. His overall shooting percentage was 46.9% and his 3-point percentage was 39.5%, which was the same as last season. This year, she averaged 22.6 attempts per game, a career high. There were six times in a game she attempted more than 30 shots, and she never attempted more than 34 shots.
Almost half of her scores (1,509 points, 41% of her total) came from beyond the arc, with many coming from beyond her 25 feet. This shot, colloquially referred to as “Logo 3,” is captivating for casual fans watching Iowa State basketball. But they can never get out of despair. Clark has been practicing from a distance and developing his muscle memory from there. Her shot from close to the logo earned her the title of women’s leading scorer, and now her mark is etched on the floor of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The records of Caitlin Clark
The NCAA all-time record is the most recent to rise to the top of lists in the past month. With a career-high 49 points against Michigan at home on February 15, she moved up to the top of the NCAA women’s Division I all-time scoring list, surpassing Kelsey Plum in the process. It was a single-game arena record performance. Her name and the No. 22 logo are displayed at the spot where she made the shot that broke the record.
Before to the game, Plum, a two-time WNBA champion with the Las Vegas Aces, expressed her gratitude by saying, “I’m actually very grateful to pass that baton.” “I’m very happy for her,”
Clark had a 33-point triple-double against Minnesota on Wednesday night, surpassing Woodard’s record and holding the “true record” in head coach Lisa Bruder’s eyes.
“The NCAA didn’t want to recognize women and what they did back in the 1980s,” Clark said after breaking Woodard’s record. “I think it just speaks to the foundation that these players have laid for us to have opportunities to be able to play in environments like this, in front of crowds like this. I wouldn`t have an opportunity to do what I’m doing every single night if it weren’t for people like her. ”
Other women scored more points, but the level of competition was lower. Pearl Moore scored 4,061 points at Francis Marion in the late 1970s, which is considered a small school record. Grace Beyer, a fifth-year student in the College of Health Sciences and Pharmacy, broke the NAIA scoring record last month.
Clark holds multiple school, Big Ten, and Division I scoring marks in areas such as made field goals, 3-point shooting, and the like. She’s getting close to both the career scoring average (28.4 ppg by Patricia Hoskins, Mississippi Valley State, 1986–1989) and the single-season scoring average record (33.6 ppg set in 1989 by Hoskins). As of this Sunday, Clark’s career scoring average is 28.3 points per game.
The native of Iowa is the first person to record 1,000 assists and 3,000 points. She has the opportunity to move up the list as she increased her total to 1,049 assists before Sunday’s game, where she now sits sixth all-time. The record is held by Suzie McConnell (1,307), who is followed in order by Tine Freil (1,088), Andrea Nagy (1,165), Courtney Vandersloot (1,118), and Sabrina Ionescu (1,091).
Her 17 career triple-doubles are second only to Sabrina Ionescu (26) and five more than BYU men’s all-time leader Kyle Collinsworth (12).