On Thursday evening, Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark passed former Washington Huskies guard Kelsey Plum as the women’s collegiate basketball all-time scoring leader. It took her just 2:20 to score the Hawkeyes’ first 8 points of the ballgame to secure the record, sealing it with a 30-foot 3-pointer.
Plum scored 3,528 points during her career at Washington and Clark, who needed 13 fewer games to eclipse the Husky All-American, earned the record thanks to her impressive jumpshot and seemingly unlimited range from behind the three-point arc. Clark is averaging a nation-leading 32.1 points per game this season while leading the No. 4 Hawkeyes to a 22-3 record this year.
“I’m actually very grateful to pass that baton. I’m very happy for her,” Plum said earlier this month. “I remember, to be honest, [the record] was very much a low point in my life. It felt like a lot of pressure, and my identity was kind of caught up in that record. I hope everyone in the media takes time to understand that [Clark] is not just a basketball player but a young woman that has feelings and emotions. She carries it with grace, but there’s a lot to handle there.”
OFFICIALLY ON TOP đź‘‘
Caitlin Clark passes Kelsey Plum to become the NCAA women’s all-time leading scorer 👏 pic.twitter.com/O5v7ALOdXw
— ESPN (@espn) February 16, 2024
Just like Plum, Clark is expected to be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2024 WNBA Draft and is considered the favorite to win her second straight Naismith Women’s Player of the Year award.