There is no denying Caitlin Clark has made an indelible impact on college basketball this season, and her most recent performance exemplified the star power she brings.
Sunday's regular-season finale between Iowa and Ohio State attracted the largest television audience for a women's college basketball game since 1999, Fox said. The game garnered 3.39 million viewers, setting a record for the network for any women's college basketball game.
The contest's viewing peaked between 3-3:14 p.m. ET when 4.42 million viewers tuned in.
Sunday's game was notable as Clark passed Pete Maravich as the all-time leading scorer in men's or women's Division I college basketball. Her 35-point performance helped the Hawkeyes defeat the Buckeyes 93-83.
She was named the Big Ten Player of the Year after Sunday's game.
"Everything that's gone on the last couple weeks and even the past couple months, I feel like I’m so focused on helping this team win and be so great that it’s hard for me to wrap my head around everything that’s going on," Clark said. "I think I'm just trying to soak in the moment. A record is a record. I don’t want that to be the reason people remember me. I hope people remember me for the way I play with a smile on my face, my competitive fire."
Who is Lynette Woodard, woman who blazed path for Caitlin Clark?
Before Caitlin Clark, no one had scored more points at the highest levels of women's basketball than Lynette Woodard.
According to Sports Media Watch, Sunday's Ohio State vs. Iowa contest garnered more than double any other college basketball television audience, regardless of gender. The second-most watched game of the week was between Tennessee and Alabama in men's basketball, which drew an audience of 1.6 million fans.
When Ohio State and Iowa faced off in January, that game garnered an audience of over 1.8 million people on NBC, marking the most-watched regular season women's college basketball game in 14 years.
