1.77 million viewers reportedly witnessed Caitlin Clark's defeat to Nebraska as Iowa game becomes most watched women's CBB matchup

Caitlin Clark and the then-No.2-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes dropped to 22-3 on Sunday, losing 82-79 to the unranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, who improved to 16-8 on the season.

The game was reportedly the most watched women's college basketball game in FOX Sports history, drawing in 1.77 million viewers. FOX Sports tweeted on Tuesday:

"Nebraska’s victory over Iowa in front of a sellout crowd in Lincoln scored 1,772,000 million viewers Sunday on FOX – the most-watched women’s college basketball game in FOX Sports history."

Check out the tweet from FOX Sports PR below:

Caitlin Clark was a big part of the record-setting audience tuning, entering the matchup needing 39 points to break the women's college basketball scoring record.

She came up just short, though, finishing with 31 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists, four steals and two blocks, shooting 10-25 from the field, 5-15 from the 3-point range and 6-9 from the free-throw line.

Clark appeared on course to break the record after scoring 14 points in the third quarter, helping the Hawkeyes enter the final frame with a 14-point lead. However, she went scoreless in the fourth quarter, shooting 0-6 from the field and 0-4 from the 3-point range as the Cornhuskers outscored Iowa 27-10 to pull off a come-from-behind upset victory.

It marked the first time in 125 games that Clark did not score when playing the entire fourth quarter. She will now look to break the record on Thursday when Iowa hosts the Michigan Wolverines. Clark needs just eight points to become women's college basketball's most prolific scorer.

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How has Caitlin Clark performed this season?

Caitlin Clark has been among the best women's basketball players in the nation throughout her collegiate career.

Through her first three seasons, she averaged 27.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocks per game, shooting 46.5% from the field, 37.7% from the 3-point range and 85.8% from the free-throw line.

She was named an All-American in all three seasons, receiving unanimous first-team honors in the last two seasons. She was also named the AP Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year last season.

Caitlin Clark is arguably in the midst of her best season, averaging 32.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 8.3 apg, 1.7 spg and 0.6 bpg, shooting 47.3% from the field, 39.3% from the 3-point range and 85.0% from the free-throw line.