Caitlin Clark’s quest to break Pete Maravich’s NCAA scoring record: Iowa guard

It was immediately reminiscent of Caitlin Clark‘s historic night against Michigan. The NCAA women’s scoring champ drained a triple on the first possession, added an and-1 and another triple, and suddenly was on a solo 15-point run while tripling up Minnesota.

It was another dazzling performance that drew Clark to 18 points from passing Pete Maravich’s NCAA all-time scoring record. She scored 33 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in a 108-60 win over Minnesota on Wednesday night. She was 12-of-20 overall and hit 8-of-14 from 3-point range. Her career high is nine 3s she’s done multiple times.

It was her second consecutive triple-double and sixth of the season. She has 17 overall, trailing only Sabrina Ionescu (26) in the NCAA record books.

After starting hot with 15 points in three minutes, Minnesota played tougher defense and Clark used it to feed the rest of the Hawkeyes. Gabbie Marshall was hot from 3, going 4-of-7 for 16 points. Taylor McCabe (15 points, all on 5-of-7 shooting form 3) and Kylie Feuerbach (13 points, all on 4-of-8 from 3) came off the bench to score double digits. The team was 22-of-39 from 3. More than half of their 68 attempts were from the perimeter. They shot 61.8% overall and 56.4% from 3.

Iowa closes out its regular season on Sunday at home against Ohio State. The Buckeyes (25-3, 16-1) locked up the Big Ten regular season title outright earlier in the night with a 67-51 win over Michigan. Clark, who has 6,650 career points, will have up to three Big Ten Tournament games to extend the record if Iowa reaches the title game. The NCAA Tournament could be another six games.

Caitlin Clark’s ongoing pursuit of history

Caitlin Clark wrote a storybook ending in becoming the NCAA Division I all-time women’s scoring leader. The mark she broke on a characteristically deep “logo 3” was held for seven years by Kelsey Plum.

The next milestones well within reach for Iowa’s superstar point guard have stood for decades longer. They are attached to two basketball legends, though their status in the history books is very different.

Lynette Woodard is the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) record-holder for large schools and largely considered the all-time collegiate women’s scoring leader. She scored 3,649 points for Kansas in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the AIAW governed women’s sports. The NCAA did not sponsor them until 1982 and for the most part has omitted AIAW statistics from their record books.

Pete Maravich is the all-time NCAA Division I scoring leader with 3,667 points from 1967-70. The LSU star played when freshmen were not varsity-eligible and there was no 3-point line. His record is revered and had not been challenged until fifth-year guard Antoine Davis fell three points short of tying it last March. No player, men’s or women’s, playing in the traditional four-season window has been on pace to match or surpass the mark.

Clark reached 3,569 career points after her historic…