Iowa's Clark hits 3,000 points, with record in sight

AMES, Iowa — Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark became the 15th player in Division I women’s basketball to reach 3,000 points for her career Wednesday night against Iowa State.

Clark finished with 35 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists as the No. 4 Hawkeyes won 67-58 to move to 9-1. She becomes the first player in Division I, women’s or men’s, to record at least 3,000 points, 750 rebounds and 750 assists.

Clark said she was focusing more on the big rivalry with the Cyclones — and the fact she had lost in her previous game here at Hilton Coliseum in December 2021 — than 3,000 points. But short of the milestone coming at home in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Clark couldn’t have planned it any better.

She came into the game 22 points shy of the 3,000-point milestone — fitting for No. 22. She was playing about 45 minutes from where she grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa, and played at Dowling Catholic High School.

“It’s special to be able to do it here,” Clark said. “I have a lot of family in attendance. But it was kind of the same as when I broke the [Hawkeyes] scoring record. We keep playing. We don’t celebrate in the timeout. That’s not what it’s about. As long as we win — I probably wouldn’t be happy scoring 3,000 points in a loss.”

Clark, the reigning national player of the year, had 12 points in the first quarter but just three in the second. She eclipsed 3,000 points with a 3-pointer — her fifth of the game — with 6:11 left in the third quarter.

She scored all of Iowa’s 14 points in the frame — the first time she accounted for all of her team’s points in a single quarter. She also scored or assisted on 26 of the Hawkeyes’ 33 second-half points.

Wednesday marked the 41st time in her career that Clark finished with at least 30 points, extending her lead for most of any Division I player over the past 25 seasons.

“Caitlin surpassing the 3,000 mark is really special,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “That is a very hard thing to do, and to do it so early in her senior season is amazing.”

The 6-foot senior guard reached 3,000 points in her 110th career game, the second fastest in NCAA Division I history behind Patricia Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State in 1985 to 1989. Among the players to debut over the past 25 seasons, Clark is the fastest to 3,000.

The last player to reach 3,000 points was Iowa State’s Ashley Joens, who did so during the Big 12 tournament in March. Joens, who finished her career with 3,060 points, was an AAU teammate of Clark’s.

And there is another Iowan on the 3,000 list: Des Moines native Lorri Bauman, who scored 3,115 points at Drake from 1980 to 1984.

Iowa State’s Bill Fennelly, also an Iowa native, coached Joens and coached against Clark.

“You’re talking about two of the best collegiate players ever, and they are from our state,” Fennelly said. “Everyone was grilling me on, ‘How are you going to stop Caitlin?’ I’m like, ‘No. 1, you can’t.’ She’s gonna score a gazillion points. But it’s a great thing, and something both programs are proud of. People in our state should be very proud of it.”

Clark, now at 3,013 points for her career, could pass Kelsey Plum as the all-time scoring leader in the NCAA era (since 1981 to 1992) this season. Plum, who plays for the two-time defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, recorded 3,527 points with Washington from 2013 to 2017 and is one of three active WNBA players to rank in the top five of the NCAA’s career scoring list, along with Indiana‘s Kelsey Mitchell (Ohio State, 3,042 points) and Phoenix‘s Brittney Griner (Baylor, 3,283).

There are two players in the pre-NCAA era who scored more points than Plum: Francis Marion’s Pearl Moore (1975 to 1979) with 3,884, and Kansas‘ Lynette Woodard (1977 to 1981) with 3,649.

Clark is an admirer of Plum for her scoring and ability to lead her team to the Final Four (in 2016) like Clark did last year. Clark also was a big fan of UConn‘s Maya Moore (3,036 points), when she was with the Minnesota Lynx, although Clark was a little young to recall all of Moore’s UConn career from 2007 to 2011.

“I’ve loved watching all of these players,” Clark said. “It’s crazy to even think about being in that category.”

ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.