Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark has been making lots of noise in women’s sports for the past several years — and Thursday night she made history, too.
When she scored 8 points against Michigan, Clark became the NCAA women’s career scoring leader. And she did it in front of a home crowd in Iowa City.
It didn’t take long to reach the milestone Thursday. She made the first two scores for Iowa of the game — a 2-pointer and a 3-pointer, drawing her within three of the eight she needed.
She dropped a 3-pointer with 7:40 left in the first, still near the Iowa logo in the middle of the court, to reach it.
The game paused on a timeout and Clark hugged teammates and the announcer broadcast the feat to the cheering crowd. A celebration was planned immediately after the game.
With four regular-season games left, Clark will likely put some more distance between herself and the previous record, as she’s averaging more than 32 points per game.
Already three times this season, Clark has scored at least 40 points in a game.
Kelsey Plum previously held the record of 3,527 career point, which she set in 2017. Clark came within seven points of that benchmark Sunday, when No. 4 Iowa’s four-game winning streak came to an end with a 82-79 loss to Nebraska.
Plum, who played for Washington from 2013-2017, said last week that she’s “grateful to pass that baton” to Clark.
“I hope everyone in the media takes time to understand that she is not just a basketball player but a young woman that has feelings and emotions,” Plum told The Washington Post. “She carries it with grace, but there’s a lot to handle there. If anything, make sure that we show her love outside of her performance.”
Clark, a senior who still has another season of eligibility remaining, if she wants it, on Sunday recorded the 1,000th assist of her college career, making her the sixth woman in college basketball history to achieve such a feat.
The 6-foot guard from West Des Moines and her dynamic game…
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