With 3,520 career points, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark needs just eight on Thursday night to take ownership of the all-time Division I women’s college basketball scoring record.
Clark will look to make history when the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes (22-3, 11-2 Big Ten) host Michigan in Iowa City, Iowa.
Clark scored 31 points through the first three quarters but was held scoreless in the fourth in Iowa’s 82-79 setback to Nebraska on Sunday.
Now, Clark will have the opportunity to pass former Washington guard Kelsey Plum’s mark of 3,527 career points at home in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Clark, a 22-year-old senior who has played in 14 fewer games than Plum, doesn’t seem focused on the record, though. She just wants to put her team back in the win column.
“You can’t get too caught up in one loss,” Clark said. “All everybody needs right now is a boost of confidence, and I know I can give it to them.”
In each loss this season, the Hawkeyes have squandered leads of multiple possessions. They were up six on Kansas State, ahead by 12 against Ohio State, and led Nebraska by 14 at the end of the third quarter.
“I think the biggest focus right now is just finding ways to grow, finding ways to get better — another case of us blowing another lead. That’s something that has to stop,” Clark said. “We could have executed a lot better.”
As for the scoring record, she said: “When it happens, it happens. It’s really not going to affect my life that much.”
As Clark has chased that record, she’s drawn the admiration of big-time NBA stars and legendary coaches.
“You can’t help but watch where she’s shooting from, the range, the confidence, the flare,” Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry told The Associated Press. “She’s a performer.”
Added former Notre Dame coach and two-time national champion Muffet McGraw: “I don’t understand why more teams don’t double her. Who do you think’s going to take the shot?”
In all likelihood, the record indeed will fall on Thursday night when Michigan (16-9, 7-6) comes to town. Clark has finished a game with single digits in points just once in her career, when she was a freshman. She’s averaging 32.1 points per game this season — which leads the nation.
Clark is 3-1 in her career against the Wolverines and averages 34.7 points per outing against them.
Michigan is coming off a win, with Cameron Williams scoring 23 points in an 86-58 victory over Rutgers on Saturday. Laila Phelia averages 16.1 points per game for Michigan this season.
Wolverines coach Kim Barnes-Arico knows that slowing Clark down will be a tall order.
“She’s a generational talent,” Barnes-Arico told CBS Sports. “Just the things that she’s able to do on the basketball court are incredible, and it doesn’t matter what defense you try to throw at her or what different look you try to give her, she still figures out a way to score.”
A win over Iowa would go a long way for Michigan. On Tuesday, ESPN’s latest bracketology projections had the Wolverines on the bubble as one of the last four teams in the NCAA Tournament field.
–Field Level Media