Iowa State's Kaitlyn Clark breaks 'Pistol' Pete Maravich's NCAA Division I scoring record

Two weeks after breaking the women's record, Kaitlyn Clark became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball during that period.

The Iowa Hawkeyes star entered Sunday's game against the Ohio State Buckeyes needing 18 points to break the deficit. “Pistol Pete” Maravich’s record is 3,667 career points, which has stood for more than 50 years. And with a free throw in the second quarter, she became the highest-scoring player — man or woman — in NCAA basketball history.

By the time the final buzzer rang in Sunday's game — in which the Hawkeyes beat the Buckeyes 93-83 — Clark had scored 35 points.

Clark's total on Sunday sets the new NCAA scoring record at 3,685 points.

After the record-breaking free throw, Clark said the record wasn't on her mind, “but then when they announced it and everyone was screaming, that's when I knew,” in an interview with Fox correspondent Allison Williams.

Clark said in a postgame interview with Williams that her team “came out and dominated” the Buckeyes.

“I'm proud of our girls,” Clark said. “It was a fun, dominant win for us. I thought we played really well.”

Clark, in an interview during her senior night, said she was “so grateful” after starting her career at Iowa State “playing in front of absolutely no one during COVID,” and “now it's impossible to get a ticket to get in the door.” To our matches.”

“I think the people that made it even more special were my teammates and my coaches,” Clark said. “But it's not the same without all of you,” she continued, gesturing to the crowds of cheering fans.

“I mean it and thank you,” Clark said. “This is special. I don't know if you guys realize what you're doing for women's basketball and women's sports in general, but you're changing it. You're helping us change it.”

“I wore an Iowa jersey for four years, but like Coach Bluder and Kit,” Clark said [Martin] There's still a lot of fun to be had and we're not done yet, he said.

Clark, 22, earned the women's record on Feb. 15 when she scored her first 8 points in a game against Michigan, surpassing the 3,527 points scored by Kelsey Bloom in her career that ended in 2017. Clark went on to set a career high that night in Her career high is 49 points. .

“I'm really grateful, honestly, that I was able to be here and fulfill a lot of my dreams,” Clark said after the historic game, which Iowa won 106-89.

She scored 33 points against Minnesota on Wednesday to cement her place atop the all-time career points tally among women to play at major colleges. The record was held by Lynette Woodard, the great Kansas player, who scored 3,650 points. (Woodard played from 1977 to 1981, when women's sports were governed by the Association of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics.)

Clark Woodard had the opportunity to network and celebrate after Sunday's game.

“It's a great time for women's basketball,” Woodard said in an interview with Williams on Fox after Clark's new record.

“Caitlin leads the way. While she breaks records, she was made to be broken, but she was also made to be honored,” Woodard said. “And because of her, my records are being honored.”

“I came into this game knowing she had 18 points to get,” Woodard continued. I was 19, but I didn't have time to play anymore. So, I hope I've passed the baton to her so she can move forward and break through that ceiling, and I'm so happy for her.

The overall record comes in Clark's final regular season game as a college athlete. Although the 22-year-old has another year of eligibility, she announced earlier this week that she will enter the WNBA draft next month.

“It probably won't hit me for a little while, but I'm going to have fun with my family and my teammates and I'm really grateful to be where I am,” Clark said when asked what emotions she was feeling. He accepted her “official farewell” to the Huk Nation.

Her final season was full of big moments and big numbers: She averaged 32 points per game, but had at least 40 points four times this season. The 6-foot guard from West Des Moines also averages more than 8 assists per game, and recently recorded the 1,000th assist of her college career, making her only the sixth woman in the history of college basketball to do so. .

With the scoring record in hand, Clark is now undoubtedly looking forward to leading her team, 25-4, to the national title. Last year, they reached the NCAA title game, where they lost to LSU.

Maravich's NCAA men's scoring record was 3,667 points, which he scored with LSU from 1968 to 1970.

After graduating from college, Maravich went on to an NBA career where he was a five-time All-Star. He played with the Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Jazz, and for one season with the Boston Celtics. Maravich died in 1988 in Pasadena, California, at the age of 40.