Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark is on the verge of breaking the NCAA Division I women's scoring record, but she's more focused on the game against than the potential milestone. The Hawkeyes are gearing up for a crucial game against Michigan on Thursday, looking to recover from a recent loss to Nebraska and stay competitive in the Big Ten title race.
“I hope they don’t stop the game,” Clark said, per Cassandra Negley of Yahoo Sports. “We can’t be wasting timeouts on that, come on now.”
Clark's approach to the record, which she could break with just eight more points, is practical. She's not been preoccupied with the record, instead focusing on playing her best basketball. This mentality has been a key factor in her success and the team's impressive record this season.
“It was never something I’m chasing,” Clark said. “It’s never why I’m scoring the ball at the rate I am, or shooting the ball as many times as I am. I think it’s just kind of what the team needs. My main goal is always to go out there and help us win, and obviously at 22-3 we’ve done that quite a bit this year.”
Iowa's coach, Lisa Bluder, had thought about calling a timeout to celebrate Clark's achievement but reconsidered after hearing her player's thoughts.
“Eight points is what we’re looking at for this record, and obviously she’s going to just blast it out of the water,” Bluder said. “It’s going to be fun to see how many points she adds on to that.”
Clark and Bluder mentioned they had not discussed the record, nor had it been a topic of conversation within the team until practice on Wednesday.
“I want to talk to them about the significance of it and that we want to celebrate this,” Bluder said. “This is really exciting for our university, our basketball program, that one of our players is going to do this.”
Once Clark passes the record held by Kelsey Plum (3,527 points), the all-time women's basketball record is doable – 3,649 points held by Kansas' Lynette Woodard. Woodard's scoring record does not count as the NCAA career leader since her college playing career predated NCAA sponsorship of women's sports. Clark could also become the all-time NCAA Division I scorer between men's and women's basketball. The current record is 3,667, held by Pete Maravich.
“I’m not anxious about it really at all,” Clark said. “I’m just really excited. It’s going to be a special night.”