In Caitlin Clark’s three-plus seasons at Iowa State, she regularly charged forward and surpassed anything in front of her. Often, this means getting blown over by a defender on the way to the rim for a layup. At times, she’ll drive off screens and away from opponents to create space for a catch-and-shoot three. Since the start of the season, Clark has been aiming to match former Washington star Kelsey Plumb’s NCAA women’s basketball scoring record of 3,527 points. “(She’s) ready to knock it down,” Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder told the Big Ten Network last week. “It’s not a burden to her.”
Clark has averaged a nation-leading 33.8 points per game over the past five games before Iowa takes on No. 4 Michigan State on Thursday. History doesn’t seem to weigh on her.
Clark rose from third place to the occasion as she surpassed her opponents on the court and her contemporaries in the record books time and time again. On Thursday, she scored 49 points to become the NCAA women’s basketball all-time scoring leader, setting a career high and an Iowa state record. Now, she leads the NCAA in scoring with 3,569 points, and her pursuit of the top will be remembered for her sheer dominance and unparalleled consistency. “The work she has done to elevate our program and the level of women’s basketball nationally is phenomenal,” Bruder said after the Hawkeyes’ 106-89 victory.
During Clark’s freshman season, her three-point shooting ability was immediately apparent. In 30 games, she took 116 shots from beyond the arc, more than twice as many as any other teammate. Clark also made 22 more 3-pointers in 2020-21 than any other player in the country, according to CBB Analytics, and almost half of his field goals fell in that range.
Playing in a fast-paced system, Clark is encouraged to shoot when and where she feels comfortable. She has accounted for more than 30 percent of Iowa’s total field goal attempts in each of the past three seasons. By comparison, Kelsey Mitchell and Brittany Griner, the top five career scorers, each shot about 26 percent of their team’s field goals during their senior seasons. Mackenzie Holmes, the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer last year (behind Clark), accounted for just 21.6 percent of Indiana’s total field goal attempts.
Clark’s success is inseparable from the success in deep water. Of the other four players in the top five in the NCAA in scoring, only Mitchell (2014-18) had a total of more than three points. Still, Clark’s point total was similar to Plum’s, reflecting a balanced performance. The 6-foot Iowa guard scored nearly 40 percent of his points from two-point range and just over 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Clark is a threat almost anywhere on the court. Consider she entered her career Thursday shooting 42.4 percent from 3-point range from the right wing (the national average last season was 30.6 percent, according to CBB Analytics) while also shooting nearly 40 percent from 2-point range from the left baseline — just Less than 10% above average. In 2023, she will be at the national average. Even around the rim, she’s more prolific than her peers, shooting 66.1 percent for her career in Iowa’s most recent win, up from a Division I mark a year ago. is 57.1%. “Most people want to talk about her long shot,” assistant coach Abby Stump said. “We have a more complete view of her game.”
Aside from Clark’s performance at the rim, her second-highest scoring total came from the left wing. She often creates space for defenders with step-back three-pointers.
As Clark’s career progressed, her game generated enthusiasm. According to Vivid Seats, the average ticket price for Iowa’s road games this season is nearly $108. Of the Hawkeyes’ 32 regular-season games this season, 30 have either been sold out or set women’s basketball stadium attendance records — the only exception being Iowa State’s neutral-site appearance in the Thanksgiving tournament Contest.
While Clark seemed to light up every opponent she faced—scoring less than 10 points just once in 126 career games—no opponent was dominated by her quite like Nebraska. . Following her 31-point performance last Sunday, she totaled 309 points against the Cornhuskers, her highest total against a single opponent. Her success against conference contenders Indiana (226 points) and Ohio State (203 points) bolstered her stellar performance against the conference’s top competition. Not surprisingly, Clark also performed well against Michigan despite playing only his fifth game against the Wolverines on Thursday. She averaged 34.8 points per game against the Wolverines, her highest average against an opponent in at least three games. That average only increased with her 49-point performance.
In addition to the Big Ten, Clark has scored over 100 points in three other conferences. In particular, she excelled in games against Missouri Valley Conference schools. Of her 325 career points against MVC opponents, 102 of them came against Northern Iowa. Clark scored 93 points at Drake, located near Des Moines. Following a similar theme, her highest-scoring Big 12 opponent was Iowa State (114).
Stamp praised Clark’s commitment to Iowa State’s conditioning, nutrition and strength programs, which are often overlooked, as key to her success. “I think she deserves a lot of credit for her commitment to this and the way she treats her body and really looks at herself in a professional way,” Stamp said. Clark’s stamina has always been there, never missing a game. She averaged at least 33 minutes per game each season. Combined with her availability and ability to play extended minutes, Clark creates an opportunity for her to earn the lion’s share of the revenue.
After Thursday’s game, Clark had no assists on 799 of his 1,171 field goal attempts, while his teammates had only 372 assists.
Given the experience on Iowa’s roster, it’s no surprise that sixth-year forward Kate Martin has the most assists for Clark. Fifth-year guard Gabby Marshall, who has played four seasons with Clark, finds her backcourt partner is second in shooting chances.
Clark can take advantage of COVID-19 eligibility rules to return for a fifth season in college. If she did, she would have distanced herself even further from Plum and other peers, potentially creating a distance that would be difficult to bridge for future generations. It’s been seven years since Clark and Plum set the record, but if Clark turned pro, the new standard might not take that long. USC freshman guard JuJu Watkins averaged 27.7 points per game, higher than Clark’s freshman average of 26.6 points. Is another record chase on the horizon?
(Illustration: John Bradford/ Competitor; Data visuals: Drew Jordan / Competitor; Caitlin Clark Photo: Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
