Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark has surpassed Lynette Woodard for the most points scored in major women’s college basketball history, days before she could potentially beat an additional record – for both men’s and women’s basketball.
The 22-year-old broke Woodard’s record Wednesday when she scored 33 points in the Hawkeyes 108-60 blowout win over the University of Minnesota.
Woodard, who scored 3,649 points for Kansas from 1977 to 1981, played under the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, the governing body that preceded the NCAA.
Women’s basketball players like Woodard laid the foundation for these types of opportunities, Clark said after the game, adding that women’s sports is going to “a really great place.”
Weeks before breaking Woodard’s record, Clark broke another historic record, becoming the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball. Her newest record encompasses the time both before and after the NCAA’s sponsor of women’s sports.
Not only did she shatter Woodard’s record, the superstar knocked down her 155th three-pointer of the season Wednesday, breaking the single-season mark previously held by Idaho’s Taylor Pierce set in 2019.
Clark said the milestones show “how amazing women’s basketball is across the board.”
“Not even myself,” Clark said on the Peacock broadcast. “Not even just Iowa women’s basketball, but how great our game is. How great it is across the country. I mean, you’re seeing it from in the top 25, but even outside the top 25. There’s really, really great teams but that’s what makes the game so fun.”
During Wednesday’s play, Clark added 10 rebounds and 12 assists to finish with her 17th triple-double of her career.
Clark still has a major career highlight in sight for her last game of the regular season on Sunday, when the Hawkeyes play Ohio State. She needs 18 points to surpass Pete Maravich, who played at Louisiana State from 1967 to 1970, to become the all-time scoring leader for NCAA men’s and women’s basketball.
“I know March is going to be one of the best March tournaments of all time,” Clark said. “So, that’s what I’m excited about. You got to bring your best every single night.”
