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Iowa Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark became the all-time leading NCAA Division I basketball scorer (men’s or women’s) in a win over the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday, surpassing Hall of Famer of Fame “Pistol” Pete Maravich.
Clark entered the game needing 18 points to surpass Maravich and reach the all-time mark of 3,667 points. He set the record with a pair of free throws in the final second of the first half. In a brief halftime interview, he said that the album was not on his mind at the time.
“Not really, but when they announce it and everyone screams, that’s when I knew,” he said.
Clark finished the game with 35 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds as No. 6 Iowa beat No. 2 Ohio State 93-83, giving her a career total of 3,685 points.
After the game, he said he was still “absorbing everything.”
“I’m so grateful for all these people who will stay and support us and have supported us throughout my four years,” she said. “I probably won’t realize it until a little later, but I’ll enjoy it with my family and my teammates and I’m very grateful to be in this place.”
Known for her ability to shoot from deep and crafty plays, the 22-year-old senior has become one of the biggest names in history. college sports and recently set the all-time scoring mark in NCAA women’s basketball. Her first-half performance against Ohio State on Sunday was representative of her abilities, as she took 15 shots, including 10 from deep, and added six assists as defenders scrambled to stop her.
Clark burst into the public consciousness last year with his incredible play during March Madness while leading Iowa to the national championship game, the first title game appearance in school history. There, Iowa fell to the LSU Tigers in one game. marked by a notable dispute between Clark and LSU forward Angel Reese.
Since then, Clark has become the dominant force in all of college basketball. Meanwhile, his popularity outside the court knows no bounds.
Clark’s University of Iowa T-shirts and T-shirts are online retailers Fans‘best-selling college athlete edition since it began selling college sports apparel in 2022, the website told CNN. It also signed deals with Gatorade, Nike and State Farm, among others.
His record-breaking performance on Sunday earned him praise from Lebron James, who holds the NBA scoring record. CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan said Clark’s feat represents a historic moment in the history of women’s sports and has changed the way people view basketball.
“I think Caitlin is making a lot of us look at this sport that is such an American institution in a different way,” he said.
The NCAA Division I basketball scoring record of 3,667 career points was set in 1970 by “Pistol Pete” Maravich, the Hall of Fame Known for his creative creation, outdoor shooting and styled hair. At LSU, Maravich scored over 44 points on 38 attempts per game over three seasons at a time when there was no three-point line, no shot clock and freshmen were not allowed to play. He died in 1988 at the age of 40.
His son, Jaeson Maravich, said Yahoo Sports last week records are an “apples to oranges comparison,” but he added, “I think my dad would have been a big fan of his.”
Last month, Clark became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketballsurpassing Kelsey Plum of the University of Washington to become the all-time leading scorer in Important history of women’s college basketball.surpassing Lynette Woodard, who played for Kansas under the NCAA’s predecessor.
Cliff Jette/AP
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark broke the scoring record with a pair of free throws late in the first half.
Originally from Des Moines, Iowa, Clark’s commitment to her home state university in 2020 has proven to be a masterstroke for her, the Hawkeyes, and women’s basketball in general.
clark was handed over the reins to Iowa’s offense almost immediately, averaging nearly 27 points as a freshman. In her third season with the team, Iowa reached its first NCAA women’s basketball national championship, with Clark continuing her prolific scoring and adding over 7 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game.
One of the most impressive things about Clark’s career has been his annual progression. This season he is averaging just over 32 points, by far the most of his career, on a solid shooting percentage (46.9%), including nearly 40% from three-point distance.
And as he continued to develop, attention to his game only increased.
“I started in a year when it was Covid and you played alone in front of your family and cardboard cutouts,” he told TNT Sports in October 2023. “And now, being in my last year, playing in front of 15,000 people, it’s special , it’s historic.
“It’s nothing that’s been done before in women’s basketball,” she said.
Like Steph Curry in the NBA and Sabrina Ionescu in the WNBA, Clark’s ability to hit defense-busting 3-pointers from downtown has made her an elite talent and a social media favorite.
Clark said last week she will enter the WNBA Draft at the end of this season, avoiding a final year of eligibility. He will likely play for the Indiana Fever after the team won the lottery for the first overall pick.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the scoring record. Caitlin Clark became the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer in men’s and women’s basketball.