On Wednesday, Caitlin Clark led her Iowa Hawkeyes to an extraordinary victory over their in-state rivals, the Iowa State Cyclones, 67-58, thanks to a game-high 35 points.
With her 3,000th career point on the floor, the current unanimous national player of the year became just the 15th player in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to reach that milestone.
Clark also ventured into unknown ground with her scoring tantrum. With over 3,000 points, 750 rebounds, and 750 assists, she is the only player in Division I men’s or women’s basketball history to accomplish these feats.
In addition to her five assists and nine rebounds, the 21-year-old gave appreciation to her coach Lisa Bluder for setting her up for success.
After the win, Clark told ESPN, “She lets me be me and that’s all you can ask for in a coach. But she supports me more as a person and my teammates let me thrive.” “We have the best support from fans, and I’m very fortunate.” I’m incredibly fortunate and lucky.
“I’m making an effort to enjoy every moment and do everything within my power to make people smile.”
With 3,013 points in her collegiate career, Iowa native Clark is now 514 points behind Kelsey Plum’s NCAA women’s record of 3,527. If Clark keeps up her scorching scoring pace of 29.6 points per game this season, she might break the record.
The entire game was close, and the All-American also made six three-pointers. In the match, there were nine ties and twelve lead changes.
In a fierce match between the two state rivals, the teams were tied at 34 points at the half. After a third quarter in which Clark scored all 14 of Iowa’s points, the team was ahead 48-45.
After going on an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter to seize a late lead, the Cyclones lost the game when the Hawkeyes outscored them 13-3 in the last four minutes.
Coach Bluder of Iowa stated, “We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game,” following the final buzzer. They did a fantastic job slowing the ball down, but our defence was much stronger in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter when they had taken the lead. We discussed three-point defence at halftime, and in the second half, they didn’t make a single three-pointer.
After a scorching start to the season, the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes move up to 9-1, while the Cyclones fall to 4-4 and.500.
