Iowa star Caitlin Clark gave the fans what they were waiting for in the Hawkeyes matchup against the Michigan Wolverines, hitting a logo 3-pointer 132 seconds into the game to surpass Kelsey Plum to move into first place in the NCAA scoring record book. Iowa won the game 106-89.
Clark did not let the only scoring record she did not own for Iowa stand for long, either. Last week, Hannah Stuelke scored 47 points against Penn State, just one shy of the Hawkeyes' record for most points in a game, which was 48 held by Megan Gustafson.
By the end of the night, Clark (49 points) owned that record and the women's college basketball scoring record.
The $818,000 NIL-valued Clark, according to On3, was celebrated by a typical Nike zinger that went out across all of their social media accounts.
“You break it, you own it," read the poster.
Her longtime boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, backed the Iowa star by reposting the Nike poster on his Instagram stories.
Caitlin Clark had the perfect night
There was every possibility that Caitlin Clark would break the record against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the Pinnacle Bank Arena instead of at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
She registered 31 points, all coming in the first three quarters. For the first time in her career, she did not score at all in the fourth quarter and the Hawkeyes fell to an 82-79 loss before the matchup in front of her own fans came next on the calendar.
Caitlin Clark showed her customary self-confidence while addressing the media after the game against Michigan, revealing that she wanted to break the record in spectacular fashion.
"You all knew I was going to shoot a logo 3 for the record. Come on now," Clark said (h/t ESPN).
Later, during the celebration for the popular Clark commemorating her record-breaking night, she deflected the attention from herself and refocused it on finishing the season strong.
“I’m just really grateful,” Clark said. “Thankful for everyone that came out tonight and support us night in and night out. … We’ve got a lot more winning to do so let’s go. I appreciate you all!”
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder seemed speechless during her postgame news conference when describing her star player.
“This record is going to stand for a long time and I’m just glad she’s wearing black and gold,” Bluder said. “You do it, you do it well, girl.”
Caitlin Clark now owns the record outright and she's back on the chase, trying to break Pete Maravich's record (3,667 points) next.
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