Caitlin Clark of Iowa has a major NCAA milestone in reach as the Hawkeyes wrap up the regular season.
Clark (3,650 points) is just 18 points from passing the late Pete Maravich of LSU (3,667) and becoming the all-time NCAA Division I scoring leader, men or women.
Clark announced this week that she will skip her final season of eligibility and head to the WNBA draft in April, where she is the presumptive No. 1 pick. She will play at home at least once more if the Hawkeyes are chosen to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
LAST TIME OUT
Clark broke Lynette Woodard’s major college scoring record by scoring 33 points in Iowa’s 108-60 win at Minnesota. Clark, last year’s AP player of the year, also made eight 3-pointers against the Gophers to set the NCAA women’s single-season record (156). She also had 12 assists and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes to post her 17th career triple-double and second in as many games.
UP NEXT
No. 6 Iowa hosts No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday, the teams’ second meeting of the season. Clark had 45 points on 12-for-25 shooting in a 100-92 overtime loss to the Buckeyes on Jan. 21, when fans rushed the court in celebration and one of them accidentally knocked her over.
Ohio State has clinched the Big Ten regular-season championship. Iowa will get the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament if they beat the Buckeyes.
HOW TO WATCH
Tipoff is 1 p.m. Eastern in Iowa City. The game will be televised nationally on Fox. Tickets are expensive for Senior Night.
WHO ARE THE ALL-TIME CAREER SCORERS?
Woodard had 3,649 points for Kansas from 1977-81, before the NCAA took over women’s sports from the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Last month, Clark passed Kelsey Plum for the women’s NCAA career scoring record.
Pearl Moore of Francis Marion has the overall women’s record with 4,061 points from 1975-79 at the small-college level in the AIAW. Moore had 177 points at Anderson Junior College before enrolling at Francis Marion.
Maravich set his record with no 3-point line and in only three seasons (1967-70), because freshmen at that point weren’t allowed to play on varsity teams.
The all-time, all-division top college scorers’ list (men and women):
1. John Pierce, David Lipscomb (Tenn.), 1990-94, 4,230 points. NAIA. (all-time leader, all divisions, men or women).
2. Philip Hutcheson, David Lipscomb (Tenn.), 1986-90, 4,106 points. NAIA.
3. Pearl Moore, Francis Marion (S.C), 1975-79, 4,061 points. AIAW. (all-time women’s leader).
4. Travis Grant, Kentucky St., 1969-72, 4,045 points. NCAA D-II.
5. Grace Beyer, Health Sciences and Pharmacy, 2020-current, 3,961 points. NAIA.
6. Miriam Walker-Samuels, Claflin (S.C.), 1987-1990, 3,855 points. NAIA.
7. Deb Remmerde, Northwestern (Iowa), 2004-08, 3,854 points. NAIA.
8. Bob Hopkins, Grambling (La.), 1953-56, 3,759 points. NCAA D-II.
9. Archie Talley, Salem College (W.Va.), 1973-76, 3,720 points. NCAA D-II.
10. Steve Platt, Huntington College (Ind.), 1971-74, 3,700 points. NAIA.
11. Pete Maravich, LSU, 1967-70, 3,667 points (all-time NCAA D-I leader, men or women).
12. Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy, 2018-23, 3,664 points. NCAA D-I.
(asterisk)13. Caitlin Clark, Iowa, 2020-current, 3,650 points (through March 2. All-time NCAA D-I women’s leader).
14. Lynette Woodard, Kansas, 1977-81, 3,649 points. AIAW.
(asterisk)-active players.
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