Iowa's Caitlin Clark breaks NCAA women's hoops scoring record - ESPN

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Caitlin Clark has filled arenas all season, and the packed house here Thursday got to see the home state hero make sports history. The Iowa Hawkeyes guard broke the NCAA women's basketball career scoring record, delighting the crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

And she did it about as quickly as she possibly could.

Clark came into No. 4 Iowa's game against Michigan with 3,520 points, needing eight to break the mark set by Washington's Kelsey Plum (3,527) from 2013 to 2017.

Clark converted a layup off the opening tip. Then she hit a 3-pointer from her favorite spot on the court, the left side. Another 3-pointer from the same side produced pandemonium. It took her 2 minutes, 12 seconds to become the record holder.

Clark and Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder had said coming into the game that they didn't anticipate a stoppage of play when the record came. But Iowa took a timeout, and Clark's teammates gathered with her in a joyous group hug on the court. Clark's broad smile told the story of the night: The chase for a record she said had never felt like a burden was now hers to celebrate.

«It's cool. It's cool to be in the same realm as a lot of really, really good players,» Clark said at halftime in a televised interview. «I'm lucky to do it because I have really good teammates and really good coaches and a great support system that surrounds me.»

She wasn't done after breaking the record, though. Clark scored a career-high and Iowa-record 49 points in the Hawkeyes' 106-89 win. She now has 3,569 points for her career.

Her nine 3-pointers (on 18 attempts) tied her career best. She also contributed 13 assists, five rebounds and a steal in the win. She finished with a total of 79 points scored or assisted on, the most