On February 15th, 2024, Caitlin Clark, a senior guard for the Iowa Hawkeyes, broke the NCAA Division One women's basketball scoring record. Clark broke the record by scoring 49 points against Michigan. The shot that broke the record was a signature Clark logo three.
The record has been held by Kelsey Plum since 2017, who scored 3,527 points in her four-year career with the Washington Huskies.
Caitlin Clark has been having an incredible season for the Hawkeyes. She is first in the country in both points per game and assists. Clark is averaging 32.4 points per game and is putting up 7.9 assists a game.
Since being at Iowa, Clark has created quite the resume for herself. During her freshman year, she was named the Big 10's Freshman of the Year and collected multiple Big 10 Player of the Week awards. She led the Hawkeyes to the Sweet 16, where they would be defeated by UConn.
In her sophomore season, she became the fastest player in the Big 10 conference to reach 1,000 career points. She was also selected to be a first-team All-American. She led Division 1 women's basketball in assists and points per game.
During her junior season, Clark was named Big 10 Player of the Year again and she was named first-team All-Big 10. During the March Madness tournament that year, she became the first Division 1 player in women's or men's basketball to record a 40-point triple-double. Clark led the Hawkeyes to a national championship appearance but fell short to LSU.
So far, in her senior season, Clark has been nothing short of extraordinary. She reached 3,000 career points this season and recorded 1,000 career assists. Now, she has broken the all-time scoring record. Clark was asked about how it felt to be able to break the record in a halftime interview during the game against Michigan.
“It’s cool. It’s cool to be in the same realm as a lot of really, really good players,” Clark said. “I’m lucky to do it because I have really good teammates and really good coaches and a great support system that surrounds me.”
This season, Caitlin Clark has also made her mark in Big 10 history by becoming the all-time leader in field goals in the conference. Clark does have the option to return to Iowa for one final year instead of declaring for the draft, so the number could grow even larger. If she declares for the draft, she is projected to be the number one pick.
“I dreamed of doing really big things, playing in front of big crowds, going to the Final Four, maybe not quite on this level,” Clark said in an interview with The Guardian. “I think that’s really hard to dream. You can always exceed expectations, even your own, and I think that’s been one of the coolest parts.”