Clark sets single-season 3-point mark in Iowa win

MINNEAPOLIS — Friday was a rough 3-point shooting game for Iowa star Caitlin Clark, but she has had a great career from long range overall.

In the No. 2 seed Hawkeyes’ 95-62 victory over No. 7 Penn State in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals, Clark’s two 3-pointers gave her 164, the most ever in a season by a Division I player (women or men).

Clark passed Stephen Curry, who had 162 3-pointers at Davidson in 2007-08, and Darius McGhee, who had 162 last season for Liberty. Both Curry and McGhee did so in 36 games; Clark has played in 31 thus far for the 27-4 Hawkeyes.

It marked another record in a season full of them for Clark.

In Iowa’s final game of the regular season Sunday, she passed LSU’s Pete Maravich for most career points scored by a D-I player. On Friday, she reached the 3-point mark despite one of her least-memorable games shooting.

Clark missed 11 attempts from behind the arc before making her first with 8:41 left in the game. She held up her arms in mock celebration after that 3, drawing a big ovation from the sellout crowd of mostly Hawkeyes fans at Target Center.

“I was trolling and messing around when I made that,” Clark said. “You’ve got to have some fun. Sometimes it’s hard to get up there and shoot the next one, but maybe that’s my poison sometimes. I’m just going to launch it. That’s just how it’s going to be. I was going to make one before the buzzer hit zero, even if it took 20 of them.”

Clark has been held without a 3-pointer only once in her Iowa career: She went 0-for-6 from behind the arc in a victory vs. Purdue on Jan. 13, 2022, when she was a sophomore.

For her career, Clark has 511 3-pointers. The NCAA women’s career record was set by Oklahoma’s Taylor Robertson last season with 537, although that was her fifth season because of the COVID-19 waiver from 2020-21. Clark is in her fourth season, which will be her last, as she previously announced she’ll enter the WNBA draft.

Despite her shooting woes — she finished 5-of-19 overall and 2-of-14 from behind the arc — Clark still led the Hawkeyes in scoring (24 points), rebounding (10) and assists (7). Her teammates were a combined 13-of-30 from behind the arc.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her miss 11 3s in a row, and that could probably include practice and everything else,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I’m really proud of her for the way she handled that.

“I think that’s the best thing for us is to have a game like this because now these guys all have great confidence. They have more belief in themselves and each other. If Caitlin has a bad night [shooting], OK, we can still survive that.”

Clark also tied former Ohio State star Kelsey Mitchell for most career points scored in the Big Ten tournament, with 265. Clark will look to break that record in Saturday’s semifinal against Michigan.