Caitlin Clark has had some incredible games this season, but her game at Nebraska Thursday might take the cake for her best as a Hawkeye to date. 

The freshman finished with a career-high 39 points, going 12-of-18 from the floor, including an impressive 6-of-10 from the 3-point line. Her 39 points was the highest any basketball player — man or woman — has ever scored in Pinnacle Bank Arena. That helped the Hawkeyes to an 88-81 victory. 

“I play my best basketball when I’m more patient and more calm,” Clark said after the win. “And that’s what I did tonight.” 

Clark is now third on the Iowa all-time freshman scoring list with 451 points. 

With Nebraska closing the game down to four late in the fourth quarter, all momentum seemed to be sapped from Iowa. The Cornhuskers went on a late 13-0 run, and the Hawkeyes were unable to generate anything on the offensive side of things.

But then up stepped Clark, who made a huge deep 3-pointer with just over a minute left to play. The bucket gave the Hawkeyes a seven point cushion that they would hang onto for the rest of the game.

“I think she took a step tonight,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “ I thought she played within the game, and she just played more naturally tonight.” 

Clark was not only effective shooting the ball. She led the team with 10 rebounds and seven assists.

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It was a back and forth first half between the two teams, with neither side leading by more than seven points. In the third quarter, Iowa managed to burst out to a 12-0 run to take a strong 11 point advantage into the fourth quarter.  

Iowa would extend the lead in the fourth quarter to 17, and the game looked to be a virtual lock. Some great shooting from Nebraska cut the lead down to four, and it appeared Iowa could suffer another heartbreaking loss until Clark nailed that 3-pointer with over a minute to play. 

The win breaks a streak of close losses Iowa has endured this season, and could be a turning point in its season as the team looks to make the postseason and finish the Big Ten regular season strong. 

“It’s huge, because you keep telling them to keep believing, keep pounding away and it’s going to happen,” Bluder said. “Especially since it’s on the road and we’re neck and neck with them in the conference standings, so that was important.”

Clark wasn’t the only one to have a big game on the way to victory. Forward McKenna Warnock contributed with 19 points and six rebounds, with the 19 points being her second highest scoring effort of the season. 

“I give a lot of credit to my teammates, especially Cailtin,” Warnock said. “She got a lot of 3’s wide open for me.” 

Junior Monika Czinano chipped in 16 points and four rebounds, while sophomore Gabbie Marshall scored six points.

Iowa (11-6, 7-6) will have a week to prepare for its next contest against Penn State Feb. 18 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tipoff time and TV information hasn’t been released yet.