After much anticipation, Iowa’s superstar guard Caitlin Clark broke former Washington Huskies guard Kelsey Plum’s NCAA scoring record on Thursday, Feb. 15 against the Michigan Wolverines. Coming in just eight points shy of the record, the senior broke the mark in the only way she knew how, dropping a career-high 49 points in a 106-89 win, setting an Iowa women’s record along the way. She also made the Wolverines defense pay in more ways than one, dishing out 13 assists.
When you bring up college basketball, you’ll probably hear Clark’s name brought up more than any men’s or women’s college star in the country. She is the face of college basketball and rightfully so. The 22-year-old has been on another planet this year, leading the country with 32.1 points and 8.3 assists per game. Shooting 47 percent from the field and 39 percent from three-point land, it’s clear that the Iowa guard has never met a shot she didn’t like and that rang true on Thursday night.
Not even three minutes into the game, Clark was right there, in need of just three points to set the record. After a recovered loose ball, she received a pass, dribbled past the half court line, stopped and popped from the logo. History. The nylon barely moved. That three-ball gave her the record and the crowd erupted. She quickly flexed for the fans, but as she always has, she remained cool, calm and collected, as she’d just cemented her name into history.
She also set another record with just over a minute to go in regulation. Fading to her left and defensive pressure in her face, Clark pulled up from downtown for another highlight reel trey that gave her 49 on the night, a career-high and an Iowa women’s college basketball single game scoring record. It was the cherry on top to a perfect performance.
Once things were all wrapped up, Clark’s statline read an incredible 49 points, 13 assists and 5 rebounds. Her efficiency was also off the charts, going 16 of 31 from the field and hitting nine of her 18 attempts from three.
It was her night. Following the buzzer, she was swarmed by her teammates and newspapers with her name highlighting her accomplishment were passed around. Following a brief interview, a tribute video congratulating Clark was played on the jumbotron. Everyone from loved ones, teammates, and former teammates to coaches congratulated the young phenom. It was truly a special moment.
This was not only a great moment for Clark, but for college basketball as a whole. Sometimes the regular season doesn’t get the attention it deserves and fans don’t really start watching until March Madness. With Clark being on the tear that she’s on and putting up jaw-dropping numbers every game, fans will have something to look forward to almost every night.
With just a few games to go in the regular season, Clark is within striking range of Pete Maravich’s all-time college basketball scoring record of 3,667 points. She has a great opportunity to break it. Fans will eagerly wait to see if she has another accolade to add to her historic collegiate career.
