By Paige Albright
Boston University News Service
Caitlin Clark sank a free throw at the end of the first quarter of her final regular season collegiate game to break the 54-year-old NCAA scoring record. Clark, a true senior at the University of Iowa, has had a college career that rewrote the history of women’s basketball.
The University of Iowa celebrated its senior game on March 3, and at the start of the game, Clark was a mere 18 points away from Pete Maravich’s record of 3,667 career points in NCAA basketball. Clark previously broke the women’s all-time scoring record for women on Feb. 15, surpassing Kelsey Plum’s record of 3,527 career points.
Like all other home games this season, the home arena at Carver-Hawkeye in Iowa City was sold out. The home team Hawkeyes took on the Ohio State Buckeyes, one of the few teams that beat Iowa this season. Stars were amongst the crowd on Sunday afternoon in Iowa, with Jake from State Farm sporting the new fashion star Kristin Juszcyk’s custom Clark vest and award-winning rapper Travis Scott who sat courtside alongside women’s basketball legend Maya Moore.
With the postseason still yet to start, Clark is expected to elevate her record to even greater heights. As she averages around 32.2 points per game, the new record of 3,685 is only a starting point as Iowa is favored to go far in the NCAA postseason, meaning she could have up to 12 more games to play in her college career.
As Clark announced on social media, she will not be taking her extra COVID year and will instead be entering the WNBA draft. She is predicted to be the first overall pick, which is currently held by the Indiana Fever, who, hours after Clark’s announcement, saw their ticket prices more than double. She won her 28th weekly award this week being named the Big Ten Player of the Week, and she is the top contender for both the Naismith Award and Player of the Year Award this season.
Clark, a native of West Des Moines, Iowa, has transformed women’s basketball at the college level. This year will be the first-ever sold-out Big Ten Women’s tournament and expected NCAA women’s tournament sell out. Her notoriety as a lights-out shooter and fierce competitor has brought all-time viewership to women’s games across the nation. Many are excited to see what she and other standout players can do to help develop the WNBA in the coming years.
