Iowa's Caitlin Clark became the NCAA’s fourth all-time leading scorer in women's basketball history, surpassing Baylor's Britney Griner, during the Hawkeyes' 96-50 win over Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Clark scored a game-high 32 points in what has become a typical effort for the basketball phenom who has captivated sold-out crowds all season. She is averaging an NCAA-leading 31 points per game this season.
Tuesday marked the 10th time this year Clark has scored more than 30 points in a game.
In 119 games, Clark has scored 3,306 points. By comparison, it took Griner 148 contests to score 3,283 points during her 2009-13 tenure with Baylor. Griner would go on to become a nine-time WNBA All-Star.
Clark needs 87 points to pass Jackie Stiles for third on the list, 96 points to pass Kelsey Mitchell for second, and 221 points to pass Kelsey Plum to become the all-time leading scorer in Division I women's basketball. The Hawkeyes have a minimum of 12 more games on their schedule, meaning Clark is on pace to more than shatter Plum's record.
Tickets to see Iowa's Caitlin Clark can cost hundreds. Here's why
The attention Caitlin Clark got during last year's NCAA Tournament helped lead to a massive deal this week between the NCAA and ESPN.
If she continues to average 31 points per game, she would break the record eight games from now when Iowa faces Indiana on Feb. 22.
Earlier in the week, she was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the fourth consecutive week.
The cost of seeing Clark in person has surged. Average seats for Clark's next game at Ohio State on Sunday are selling for over $200 on the secondary market.
"I just hope people realize what she's done for the game," Jess Rickertsen, University of Iowa assistant athletics director for ticket operations, previously told Scripps News. "How good of a person she is off the court. I mean, obviously, she's a competitor on the court, you know, and everybody would expect her to be. But I feel like her, her teammates, her coaches have always done the right thing off the court."
