Caitlin Clark sets women's all-time scoring record with 49-point masterpiece

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Caitlin Clark broke the record for the most points in Division I women's basketball history, passing Kelsey Plum's mark at home against Michigan on Thursday less than three minutes into the first quarter on a deep 3-point shot.

The Iowa superstar guard had nearly accomplished the feat in Sunday's matchup at Nebraska, which Clark had entered needing 39 points to surpass Plum's 3,527 career points. She had 31 after three quarters, but stunningly went scoreless in the fourth – a first for Clark – as Iowa was upset by the unseeded Cornhuskers. 

So, returning home to play Michigan in front of a raucous crowd, she was just eight points shy of the mark and hit that total with almost eight minutes still on the clock in the quarter. 

['It’s unimaginable': Caitlin Clark's historic night and its impact on women's sports]

She came out on a mission, scoring the game's first eight points for Iowa including that 40-foot, record-setting 3-pointer. Clark started with a quick five points – a layup eight seconds after tip off, and a 3-pointer 30 seconds after that. The 14,998 fans that sold out Carver Hawkeye Arena rose to their feet. Then, with 7:48 on the clock, Clark pulled up just wide of the Hawkeyes logo and launched a perfect shot.

When it went in, it sounded like all of Iowa roared. You couldn’t even hear the PA announcer say that she had now scored the most points in women’s basketball history.

"Y'all knew I was gonna shoot a logo 3 for the record, right?" Clark said after the game. 

At the ensuing timeout, Clark briefly celebrated with her teammates. She gave head coach Lisa Bluder a hug. And then she went right back to it.

After the first quarter, Iowa led Michigan 33-22, and Clark had 23 points, including four 3s, and four assists. She set another record in the fourth quarter, breaking the Iowa women's single-game scoring record with 49 points. She added 13 assists in the 106-89 win.

"When you do it, you do it well, girl," Bluder said in a postgame interview, pointing to Clark setting twin records.

"It's cool, it's cool to be in the same realm of a lot of really, really good players, lucky to do it because I have really good teammates, really good coaches and a great support system that surrounds me," Clark said of the all-time scoring record during the halftime interview.

[Highlights from the game]

This moment has been a long time coming. 

A year ago, Clark swept every national player of the year award. She led Iowa to the program's first Final Four in 30 years. In an epic semifinal matchup against reigning national champion South Carolina, Clark scored 41 points and had eight assists in the upset win. That game broke TV ratings records. 

Though the Hawkeyes later lost to LSU in the national championship, Clark and Tigers' star Angel Reese brought even more exposure to the game with elite levels of trash talk that made headlines for weeks.

Clark returned for her senior year with a vengeance. She is determined to put that national championship ring on her finger before inevitably becoming the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft. She technically has one year of eligibility remaining due to COVID, but has the chance to turn pro after this season. And she's well on her way, leading the nation in points (32.2), 3-pointers (5.3) and assists (8.2) per game.

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But Clark's impact goes far beyond the stat sheet. She's selling out arenas, both at home and on the road. She's earned the respect of basketball greats like Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, and the ire of others like Sheryl Swoopes. Her swagger is contagious and fans pay big bucks to see her in action. She's a role model for young kids who can see themselves in her and wear shirts that say "Caitlin Clark is my hero" to her games. 

At an expansion point for women's basketball, with the sport growing like crazy and gaining more and more exposure, Clark is the face of it all.

"She's just made our game so much better," Jackie Stiles, a former all-time leading scorer and Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, told FOX Sports. "Growing up, I never missed Michael Jordan play and that's kind of what she is for the women's game. When she's on TV, no one wants to miss it because there's a chance you're gonna see something special."

In Iowa's 111-93 win over Penn State last Thursday, Clark had 14 assists, 11 of which went to teammate Hannah Stuelke who had the hot hand. Stuelke scored a career-high 47 points (Clark had 27), which was also the second-highest single-game performance in program history. Even Clark had never scored that many points in one game (her record is 46 against Michigan in 2022).

Could Clark have been a little more greedy and taken some of those shots instead of looking for Stuelke? Yes, but that's not the kind of player Clark is. 

That showed in the first half of Sunday's game, when Clark made another type of history. She became the sixth player in women's college basketball history to record 1,000 career assists and the only player in D-I history to compile 3,000 points and 1,000 assists. She is already the only player in Big Ten Conference history to be top-10 in all-time assists and scoring. Showing even more dimensions of her game, she is also the first Division-I men’s or women’s player to record more than 3,300 points, 1,000 assists and 850 rebounds in a career.

So, yes, she's on a quest, but her priority is to get her teammates involved and win games. She cares about those things more than smashing record books – even if she's pretty good at that, too.

"When it happens, it happens," Clark said after the Nebraska game. "Really not gonna affect my life that much. I'm just gonna keep going about my business like I have the past four years."

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.

More on Caitlin Clark's chase of the all-time Division I scoring record: 

• 'Just relief': What Caitlin Clark should expect when she sets scoring record
• Caitlin Clark's record-setting college career by the numbers
• 'No reason to freak out': Caitlin Clark focused on winning amid record chase
• Caitlin Clark's chase for history: 10 games that made the Iowa star a college hoops icon
• Caitlin Clark scoring record tracker: Iowa star's path to the NCAA record
• Caitlin Clark was a grade-school phenom; her 60-point game in high school was sign of things to come
• Caitlin Clark and Iowa are drawing sold-out crowds, big ratings even on road