Clark’s bearing down on two more records.
After breaking the record for the most outright points in women’s NCAA basketball, the Iowa Hawkeyes’ Caitlin Clark can relax and finally enjoy shooting some baskets, right?
Wrong. She’s already bearing down on a new record, so what is it and what does she need to do to get it?
Clark surpassed Kelsey Plum by posting 49 points in a 106-89 victory of the Michigan Wolverines during which she contributed to 70% of the team’s points in the game.
It took her career total to 3569 points which beat Plum’s haul of 3527 by 42.
“Y’all know I was gonna shoot a logo three for the record, huh?” Clark told reporters after the game. “I don’t know if you could really script it any better.
“Thought we played really well tonight — just to do it in this fashion, I’m really grateful.”
It wasn’t the only record she broke on the night too, as she surpassed the program-best points score of 48 which was previously set by Megan Gustafson in 2018 for the Hawkeyes, highlighting how unique and sensational Clark’s performance was.
What are the two records she is chasing?
Firstly, and this is the big one, she’s chasing Pete Maravich for the all-time Division I scoring record from any man or woman which is currently held by the NBA Hall of Famer with a points haul of 3667.
Maravich averaged 44.2 points per game as he chased down the previous record holder and he got his name etched into college history in 1970 with Louisiana State University and it is particularly impressive as he didn’t get the chance to shoot three pointers as they didn’t exist back then.
Secondly, Clark’s going for the AIAW major-college record of 3649 which was set by Lynette Woodard, who went on to become the first female member of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Woodard is, effectively, the true leader of the NCAA points record as the NCAA doesn’t recognize the points she scored due to her affiliation with the AIAW.