Iowa guard Caitlin Clark has officially passed former Texas Tech guard Sheryl Swoopes for the most total points in a single NCAA Tournament, according to a Sunday tweet from ESPN Stats & Info.
She passed Swoopes' 1993 total of 175 points.
Swoopes, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame guard who played for the Houston Comets during the WNBA's 1997 inaugural season, played for Texas Tech from 1991–93. She earned 47 points in the 1993 NCAA tournament title game to lead the Red Raiders to an 84-82 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes, the second-highest total scored in any NCAA tournament game at the time, according to Washington Post Editor Karl Hente.
“You don't really appreciate Sheryl Swoopes until you try and stop her,” Ohio State Coach Nancy Darsch said. “She's an absolutely tremendous player. She showed why she's national player of the year.
“She hurt us not only with her scoring, but, because we take pride in our defense, she left us dejected on defense sometimes by attacking our heart.”
Caitlin Clark led the way to a 77-73 win over South Carolina on Friday. An average of 5.5 million people watched Clark and Iowa upset South Carolina in the Final Four. The semifinal matchup generated better viewership than each of the last 17 NCAA Women's National Championship games, according to Sports Business Journal Managing Editor Austin Karp.
Caitlin Clark scored 41 points as she fired 3-point shots and cut through South Carolina's interior defenders on her way to hitting 15 of her 31 total shots and all six of her free throw attempts.
“We had nothing to lose. I have all the confidence in the world in this group, and they believe right back in me, and that's all you need,” Clark said, via ESPN Senior Writer Andrea Adelson. “All we do is believe in one another and we love each other to death, and that's what a true team is. If you want an example of a team, that's what this is.”
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