EVANSTON, Ill. — Another game, another record-breaking performance for Iowa women’s basketball’s Caitlin Clark, who made history Wednesday night by breaking the Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball scoring record while edging closer to claiming the No. 1 slot in NCAA women’s basketball scoring history.
Clark recorded her 3,424th career point following her 35-point, 10-assist double-double during the Hawkeyes’ 110-74 win on the road, which catapulted her past former Missouri State guard Jackie Stiles and Ohio State guard Kelsey Mitchell for No. 1 in the Big Ten and No. 2 overall.
“The cool thing is just the names that I get to be around — people like Kelsey Plum, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Mitchell,” Clark said after the game. “Those are really great players that are still playing our game at the highest level, so it’s just special for me to be in the same area as them.”
It wasn’t your typical performance that the star guard from West Des Moines often unleashes on opposing teams from behind the arc, though, as Clark shot just 3-of-12 from three.
Instead, the 2023 AP Player of the Year etched her name into the record books by driving into the paint and drawing fouls against a Northwestern team ranked second-to-last in the Big Ten coming into the game.
Many Northwestern players were playing in a raucous Welsh-Ryan Arena that they were not accustomed to as Wednesday’s game attracted 7,039 fans — seven times more than the average Wildcats game and the first sellout in Northwestern women’s basketball history — all to see such record-sitting success from a player who lives a six-hour drive away from the north suburbs of Chicago.
For Clark and the rest of the team, crowds like Wednesday’s are to be expected.
“I think, as my career’s unfolded, I don’t feel much pressure coming into these games,” she said. “The more people, the more calm I am, and I try to take it all in and enjoy every single second of it.”
Iowa’s next leading scorers were guard Kate Martin and center Hannah Stuelke, who finished the game with 16 and 17 points, respectively, in addition to guard Gabbie Marshall’s 12. Clark said none of the personal accolades come without the support from her teammates on and off of the court.
“There are people around me that let me be successful no matter what areas of life it is,” she said. “[I appreciate] getting to play with 14 other girls that give their heart and soul just as much as I do to this program [and] the coaches that allow me to be me.”
Heading into Iowa’s eight remaining regular season games, Clark is only 103 points away from surpassing former Washington and current Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum — and 243 shy of Pete Maravich’s record to be the all-time leading scorer in college basketball history.
Clark said it’s hard to grasp the magnitude of her impact on the women’s game due to her focusing on team success.
“Once I’m done playing basketball and my career is over, I’ll look back and be like, ‘Wow, those are some of the best memories of my life, getting to play in these environments with my best friends,” she said. “It’s cool to see what people are willing to give to watch your team for two hours, and I think it shows the exciting style of basketball that we play.”
