Caitlin Clark is now the No. 2 leading scorer on the NCAA women’s all-time scoring list.
Clark entered Iowa’s game against Northwestern fourth on the scoring list, but leapfrogged Jackie Stiles within the first quarter. She then moved past former Ohio State star Kelsey Mitchell in the second quarter on Wednesday, which now makes her the all-time leading scorer in Big Ten women’s basketball.
She finished with 35 points, marking her fifth consecutive 30-point game, which matches the longest streak of her career. Clark now has 3,424 career points – 97 behind Washington’s Kelsey Plum, who holds the all-time scoring record.
“The coolest thing is just the names I get to be around,” Clark said. “Those are people I grew up watching, especially Brittney Griner, Kelsey Mitchell, those are really, really good players, people that are still playing our game at the very highest level, people that you watch night in and night out.
“Just special for me to be in the same area as them.”
She added 10 assists, six rebounds, two steals and a block. Iowa coach Lisa Bluder called her performance “outstanding.”
“Really proud of her, but also her 10 assists tonight, great job,” she said. “She had a pass tonight that was just ridiculous, to Hannah [Stuelke] at the end of the shot clock. It was crazy. I love watching it.”
Currently, the Iowa star is averaging a nation-leading 32.1 points per game. She’s on track to break the record against Michigan on Feb. 15.
Clark’s superstardom sold out Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena, with 7,039 turning out to watch her.
“Being 22 years old, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around,” Clark said. “It’s something that, once I’m done playing basketball and my career’s over, you’ll look back and be like, ‘Wow, those are some of the best memories of my life, getting to play in these environments with my best friends.'”
