Caitlin Clark once again made history Thursday, recording 35 points in her 13th career triple-double in Iowa’s 98-69 win over Loyola Chicago.
She finished the game with 35 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists. It’s her third triple-double with at least 35 points, and her fifth 30-point triple-double, which is the most in D-I history. It was also the second triple-double in Division I women’s basketball history with at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, joining LSU’s Cornelia Gayden, who accomplished the feat 1995.
Sabrina Ionescu remains the all-time D-I leader in triple-doubles, with 26 during her time at Oregon.
“I knew we were going to make some bunnies,” Clark said when asked if she was concerned about getting her last assist. “Ten assists is all because of my teammates. I’m thankful for them, and for Coach Bluder for allowing me to get (the triple-double). It’s always cool when you get one of those.”
Clark is making her way up the all-time scoring list, now with 3,114 points. She’s set to pass fellow Iowan Lorri Bauman, who starred for Drake from 1980-84 with 3,115 points, who is sixth on the list. Both are natives of Des Moines.
It was also Clark’s ninth career game leading both teams in points, rebounds and assists. She sits one back from Stanford’s Nicole Powell (2000-04) for the most such games by a player since the 1999-2000 season.
“She’s really hard to play against,” Loyola coach Allison Guth said. “Her range is insane. I’ve seen teams try to box-and-one her, send two players at her. And she can do it all. We were going to stay pretty pragmatic to what we did, and try to slow them down with our pressure. Once they lit that up, it hurt us defensively.”