With about two minutes left in Wednesday night’s Gophers-Iowa women’s basketball game, fans began to file out of Williams Arena. They had seen what they came to see, so it made sense to avoid traffic.
Others remained, lingering in the halls of the arena 30 minutes after the Hawkeyes dismantled the Gophers 108-60. They didn’t want the night to end. For 40 minutes, they witnessed the greatness of Iowa guard Caitlin Clark. For a fleeting second in the fourth quarter, when his three-point bomb from the right wing sailed through the net, they caught a glimpse of history.
This word – history – was the theme of the evening. Clark reached the end of a bravura performance, the kind fans expect every time she ties up her neon green shoes. Her eighth and final three-pointer of the game broke the Division I women’s scoring record held by Lynette Woodard.
Clark finished with 33 points, the exact number she needed to pass Woodard’s career mark of 3,649.. Afterward, Iowa coach Lisa Bluder called it “a true record,” in a fiery nod to Woodard and other greats who played before the NCAA recognized basketball -women’s ball.
Bluder didn’t want to spend the evening without remembering the entire history of women’s basketball. Clark followed suit, recognizing those who paved the way for him to become a supernova.
“I think it’s super cool,” Clark said of the record. “As Coach Bluder said, the NCAA doesn’t want to recognize women and what they did in the 1980s.
“I think it’s a testament to the foundation that these players have laid for us to be able to play in environments like this, in front of crowds like this. I wouldn’t get the opportunity to do what I do every evenings if it wasn’t for people like (Woodard). I’m just very thankful and appreciative of the people who came before me.”
The match attracted an announced sold-out crowd of 14,625. At first, it seemed inevitable that Clark would reach the record.
She scored Iowa’s first 15 points, making her first five shots. In the second quarter, she made her first two attempts – a pair of threes – to bring her total to 21 points, more than the 16 the entire Gophers team had scored.
With each shot made, the fans seemed more incredulous. Some jumped from their seats. Others raised their hands in the air in a gesture did you see that? gesture. When Clark wasn’t scoring, she was setting up her teammates, drawing more oohs and aahs for the timing and touch of her passes.
Clark was at 30 points early in the fourth quarter. As time ticked down, some in the crowd seemed a little agitated, especially when Clark let up a few open shots. There were 4 minutes, 29 seconds left in the game when she casually dribbled, stepped back and let the ball fly, making a milestone look easy.
She finished with her 17th triple-double of her career, adding 12 assists and 10 rebounds. She punctuated a red-hot Iowa offense with eight three-pointers on 14 attempts, as the Hawkeyes buried the Gophers under a three-point barrage. Iowa was 22 of 39 from beyond the arc and shot 62% overall.
Clark also broke the NCAA record for three-pointers made in a single season (she has 156) and scored 20 or more points for the 114th time in 129 career games.
“I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do what I do every night without people like (Woodard). I am truly grateful to the people who came before me.
Afterward, Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit called Clark “the most dominant player, the best player to ever play the game of women’s soccer, bar none.” Plitzuweit lamented some early mistakes by the Gophers’ defense, but also noted a play where Clark got to the rim despite double coverage.
“To do what she does game after game is almost mind-boggling, honestly,” Plitzuweit said. “At the end of the day, she’s pretty special.”
In the end, Clark was first in the handshake line. She stayed on the field to do television interviews, while people crowded to the edge of the field to take photos and film. Clark also stopped to sign autographs for several children, sending many little girls into the night with big dreams.
Earlier this month, Clark broke Kelsey Plum’s NCAA career record of 3,527 points. Next: Pete Maravich’s career total of 3,667, the record for major college players of either gender.
As for Wednesday’s record, Bluder noted that Iowa had a rich history in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) before the NCAA sanctioned women’s basketball. “For whatever reason, the NCAA doesn’t want to recognize basketball played before 1982, and that’s a mistake,” Bluder said. “It hurts…I just want to make sure we recognize Lynette (Woodard’s) accomplishments.”
Clark agreed, but she was also looking to the future. She said playing in front of another sold-out crowd “never gets old” and that women’s sport will “take a really great place”. Wednesday showed again that she is leading the way.
“Pete (Maravich’s) record is getting closer and closer,” she said. “It’s super special to be in the same field as a lot of these really talented players.”
