Caitlin Clark dribbles through NCAA basketball history
For over 50 years, the NCAA all-time scoring record has been untouched, until now. Caitlin Clark, player for the University of Iowa, has broken this streak and continues to set record after record through her basketball career.
On Feb. 15, Clark broke the women’s NCAA record for most career points. Three minutes into the game against University of Michigan, 14,998 fans cheered for the rising female star as they witnessed history.
Just over two weeks later, on March 3, she gained a similar achievement, this time for women and for men, surpassing Pete Maravich’s 3,667 points. Going into the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Clark only needed 18 points to take over Maravich’s record, and as the clock struck zero, she had scored 35 points, making her the all-time NCAA Division 1 scoring leader.
After breaking these records, just five days later, Clark went on to take the achievement for the most three-pointers scored in an NCAA Division 1 tournament, of both men and women. She broke this record during Iowa’s game against Penn State in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Big Ten Tournament.
On top of all of these accomplishments, Clark is climbing her way up the college all-time, all-division top scorer’s list. At the moment she is placed eighth, 83 points behind Deb Remmerde, who played for Northwestern in the years 2004 to 2008.
Because of the Covid-19 waiver from her first year, Clark would be able to play for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes for another year. However, she recently announced her declaration for the 2024 WNBA draft, where she is expected to be the No. 1 draft pick by the Indiana Fever.
The 2023 NCAA final between the Louisiana State University Tigers and University of Iowa Hawkeyes sent women’s college basketball into history for being the most-viewed women’s college basketball game. With rising prices in tickets and an increasing attendance to watch these games introduces a new era in women’s sports. Clark will next be seen playing with Iowa, when they host a first-round NCAA tournament on either March 22 or 23.
