Feb. 15 (UPI) — Iowa guard Caitlin Clark is set to break the NCAA women’s basketball scoring record, needing just eight points to pass Kelsey Plum in career points ahead of a game against Michigan on Thursday in Iowa City.
The No. 4 Hawkeyes (22-3) will take on the Wolverines (16-9) at 8 p.m. EST at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will air on Peacock.
“Obviously, it will be special,” Clark told reporters Sunday after Iowa’s upset loss to Nebraska. “I think the biggest focus right now is finding ways to grow and finding ways to get better.”
Plum, an All-American guard at Washington from 2013 through 2017, scored 3,527 points for the Huskies and holds the No. 1 spot in the NCAA record books.
Former Kansas guard Lynette Woodard scored the most points (3,649) in women’s college basketball history from 1977 to 1981, but that predated the NCAA’s sponsorship of women’s sports.
Clark, who leads men’s and women’s basketball with an average of 32.1 points per game this season, should pass Plum for the NCAA record in the first half — and maybe the first quarter — of Thursday’s contest.
With five regular-season games remaining, in addition to the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA tournament, Clark (3,520 points) also should pass Woodard within four or five of them.
Clark also trails former LSU guard Pete Maravich (3,667), the top scorer in NCAA men’s basketball history, by just 147 points. She could pass the former Tigers star within the same time frame she passes Woodard.
After Thursday’s matchup, Clark’s Hawkeyes will play Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio State to wrap up the regular season. The Big Ten tournament will start March 6 in Minneapolis.
Clark also leads men’s and women’s college basketball in assists (207) and assists per game (8.3). Her 1,005 career assists rank sixth in NCAA women’s basketball history, 83 behind fifth-place Tine Freil (Pacific). She ranks 10th overall — in men’s or women’s basketball — in career assists.
Clark scored at least 35 points in nine of her last 16 games. She reached 40 points twice during that stretch.
As of Wednesday, the least expensive ticket prices on the secondary market for Thursday’s game was between $200 and $250.
“When it happens, it happens,” Clark said, when asked about the scoring record. “It’s not really going to affect my life that much.
“I’m just going to keep going about my business as I have for the past four years and pouring into my teammates every single day and hopefully leading this team to reach our goals. … That’s where my focus lies.”
