Hawkeye fans cheered, high-fiving and embracing each other in the Airliner as Iowa’s Caitlin Clark scored a final three-pointer from the logo on the bar’s TV to break the NCAA all-time women’s basketball scoring record. 

Some of the Hawkeye fans who couldn’t secure a ticket at the sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena to watch Clark break the scoring record flocked to Iowa City bars, gluing their eyes to the TVs.

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Among the dedicated Hawkeye fans was Luke Ranft, a student from Wheaton North High School in Illinois, who happened to be on a UI college visit. Stopping by the Airliner in downtown Iowa City, Ranft and his dad planned to get the feel of the school spirit and watch Clark score. 

“I think that she is pioneering a pathway for many people to come, its influencing more people to stay in high school sports and want to play basketball,” Ranft said. 

Not only did Clark break records for college basketball, but she also broke records as a woman, inspiring female athletes across the state. 

Erin McGinn, a UI first-year student, said watching Caitlin Clark’s career take off has been inspiring for fellow female athletes in college.

“As a female athlete, it’s really inspiring to see someone at a college level draw so much attention to her sport and show that women should be respected in the same way that men do and that we can accomplish the same things that men do in sports,” McGinn said. 

As Clark’s career has reached a new high for women’s basketball, UI students have made sure to bring the school spirit. 

Delaney Coulter, a UI first-year student, said Clark has brought revolutionary fame to Iowa.

“She’s so inspirational — I mean everything she’s done has been groundbreaking and it’s so great to see her do this for women’s sports,” Coulter said. “Everybody’s so much more excited about it now and I think that she’s leading that change.”

Ryan Barthelme, a UI fourth-year student, has been a basketball fan for most of his life, but just recently started watching women’s basketball once Caitlin Clark joined the team. Barthelme said watching Clark’s career take off has been “surreal.”

“Just to be a student at the same age as Caitlin that she is right now, and what she’s doing for Iowa and women’s basketball as a whole has been super cool and I’m just glad I can be a part of it,” he said. 

Clark needs to score just 98 more points to beat all-time leading NCAA Division I scorer Pete Maravich’s 3,667-point record that has been set since 1970.