Caitlin Clark’s quest to break Division I women’s scoring record: Clark moves to No. 2 in dominant win over Northwestern

Caitlin Clark is on pace to break the NCAA Division I women’s scoring record in February with a career-high scoring clip.

The 6-foot Iowa point guard is now second on the all-time list with 3,424 points. Kelsey Plum, who has two WNBA championships with the Las Vegas Aces, set the mark with 3,527 points at Washington from 2013-17. Clark, who is averaging 32 points per game in her senior year with the Hawkeyes, trails that mark by 103 points. She also became the Big Ten conference’s all-time leading scorer on Jan. 31 in their win over Northwestern.

LSU legend Pete Maravich holds the men’s mark with 3,667 points, which Clark is also within striking distance of this year. She is the reigning Naismith and Wooden Player of the Year winner and the leading candidate for those awards again in 2024. Iowa is ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and looking to return to the national title game, where it lost to LSU last spring.

Yahoo Sports is tracking Clark’s quest for the all-time scoring mark after every Iowa game. She has an extra year of eligibility available if she chooses to stay a fifth year. If she opts into the 2024 WNBA Draft, which is held in April, she is expected to go No. 1 to the Indiana Fever.

Next up for Clark is a game on Saturday night at Maryland. You can watch the 8 p.m. ET game on Fox.

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark can set the Division I women’s scoring record in February and the all-time Division I record is also within reach. (AP/Charlie Neibergall)

Women’s Division I all-time scoring list1. Kelsey Plum (Washington, 2017) — 3,527
2. Caitlin Clark (Iowa) — 3,424
3. Kelsey Mitchell (Ohio State, 2018) — 3,402
4. Jackie Stiles (Missouri State, 2001) — 3,393
5. Brittney Griner (Baylor, 2013) — 3,283
6. Patricia Hoskins (Mississippi Valley State, 1989) — 3,122
7. Lorri Bauman (Drake, 1984) — 3,115
8. Jerica Coley (FIU, 2014) — 3,107
9. Rachel Banham (Minnesota, 2016) — 3,093
10. Ashley Joens (Iowa State, 2023) — 3,060*
11. Elena Delle Donne (Delaware, 2013) — 3,039

*Joens used an extra year of eligibility under the COVID-19 guidelines and played five seasons

Caitlin Clark’s recent scoring performancesJan. 31: Iowa 110, Northwestern 74 — 35 points (3,424 career points)

Clark jumped two spots on the scoring list in the Hawkeyes’ dominant win over Northwestern on Wednesday night.

First, Clark passed Jackie Stiles and moved into third place on the list in the first quarter of the win after she pulled up and easily drained a contested 3-pointer without much of a second thought.

She then passed Kelsey Mitchell and moved into second on the scoring list with an easy layup in the second quarter. That also made her the Big Ten’s all-time scoring leader.

Clark finished the night with 35 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. She shot 11-of-22 from the field, and went just 3-of-12 from behind the arc.

No. 3 Iowa is now 20-2 on the season. The Hawkeyes will take on Maryland next on Saturday.

Jan. 27: Iowa 92, Nebraska 73 — 38 points (3,389 career points)

A day after her autographed NIL trading card sold for $78,000, Clark came five 5 points shy of No. 3 on the all-time list with 38 points in a dominant win over Nebraska on Saturday.

She highlighted an impressive run to close the first half with a perfectly timed 3-pointer:

The momentum carried into the third quarter and her shot was looking automatic. She went 12 for 22 from the field, 8-of-15 from deep and went 6-of-7 from the free throw line. She added 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Jan. 21: Ohio State 100, Iowa 92 — 45 points (3,351 career points)

In front of a sold out crowd of over 18,000 people in Columbus, Clark and the Hawkeyes came out strong against Ohio State, but they uncharacteristically ran out of gas late and sputtered in overtime to lose their first in-conference game of the season. Even Clark was throwing up misses by the end as OSU’s defense squeezed the life out of Iowa.

But Iowa’s star shone brightly with a season-high 45-points.

Clark also had seven assists, three rebounds, and made 14 of 16 free throws.

We also may be on Caitlin Clark injury watch. An Ohio State fan fully ran into her as Iowa was leaving the court. She appeared to be in pain as she was escorted to the locker room.

Jan. 16: Iowa 96, Wisconsin 50 — 32 points (3,306 career points)

After a bit of a slow start, Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes took off. Clark dropped 32 points to lead Iowa to a dominant win over the Badgers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Tuesday night. It marked the 47th 30-point night of her career, and Iowa’s 29th straight win over Wisconsin.

Clark had 19 of her 32 points in the first half, and helped spark a huge 15-2 run to open the second quarter — which pushed Iowa to its huge lead and eventually to the win. She shot 8-of-18 from the field and 6-of-14 from behind the arc.

Clark also passed Brittney Griner for No. 4 on the all-time scoring list early while at the free throw line.

She’s now at 3,306 points in her career, and 87 points behind Jackie Stiles in third on the all-time scoring list.

The Hawkeyes will take on No. 18 Ohio State next on Sunday.

Jan. 13: Iowa 84, Indiana 57 — 30 points (3,274 career points)

Clark’s shot didn’t fall early, but Molly Davis (18 points, 70% FG) stepped in to fuel Iowa until it did. Clark scored 30 shooting 10-of-21 (47%) with 11 assists, five rebounds, one block and one steal. She was 6-of-16 from 3, including going 4-of-5 in the second quarter with all her field goal attempts behind the arc.

Clark stayed down after colliding under the basket on an and-1 and appeared to slam her elbow into the ground. She also left briefly in the fourth quarter favoring her ankle, but returned and said on the TV broadcast there was no issue.

She came into the game averaging 28 points per game against Indiana. She was 40 points from passing Griner for fourth on the all-time list and is now nine points from passing the Baylor big.

Jan. 10: Iowa 96, Purdue 71 — 26 points (3,244 career points)

In front of another sold-out crowd on the road, Clark secured her 15th career triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. She had 11 points and went 3-of-5 from 3-point range in the first quarter. Five Iowa players reached double digits in the team-wide effort.

Jan. 5: Iowa 103, Rutgers 69 — 29 points (3,218 career points)

Clark secured her 14th career triple-double with a 10th rebound in the fourth quarter before her exit to a loud ovation at a sold-out Jersey Mike’s Arena in New Jersey. She had 29 points and 10 assists.

Jan. 2: Iowa 76, Michigan State 73 — 40 points (3,189 career points)

Clark’s buzzer-beating logo 3-pointer secured a Big Ten victory for the Hawkeyes and gave her 40 points on the night. It was her fourth consecutive game of at least 35 points, tied for the longest streak over the past 25 years. She pulled within 100 points of Griner for fourth place.

Dec. 30: Iowa 94, Minnesota 71 — Her 35 points moved her into fifth on the list, passing Drake’s Lorri Bauman (3,115) and Mississippi Valley State’s Patricia Hoskins (3,122). Her 10 assists gave her the Big Ten career assists crown. And she became the first Division I player (men’s or women’s) to have at least 3,000 points, 900 assists and 800 rebounds in her career.

Dec. 21: Iowa 98, Loyola Chicago 69 — Clark’s 35 points, 17 rebounds (a career high) and 10 assists were the 13th triple-double of her career.

Dec. 16: Iowa 104, Cleveland State 75 — Clark scored 38 points, shot 61.9% (13-of-21) and hit a season–high nine 3s on 16 attempts.

Dec. 10: Iowa 87, Wisconsin 65 — Clark entered the contest needing 27 points to break into the scoring list top-10. She scored 28 to pass USC’s Cheryl Miller (3,018), Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw (3,025), UConn’s Maya Moore (3,036) and Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne (3,039).

She started the season outside the top 25 with 2,717 points and against Iowa State on Dec. 6 became the 15th player in Division I women’s history to reach 3,000 points. She was the second-fastest to the mark, and the quickest in the past 25 years. It was the 110th game of her career.

When can Caitlin Clark break the mark?At Clark’s current season scoring average, she could set the record on Feb. 15 at home against Michigan.

At the rate of 37 ppg she scored over four games from Dec. 16 to Jan. 2, she could break it even sooner. That would take about nine more games, which would be Feb. 8 at home against Penn State. It is the program’s National Girls and Women in Sports Celebration.

At her career average of about 27 ppg, she could break it on the road at Indiana on Feb. 22.

The Hawkeyes have three more games after that to close the regular season before Big Ten tournament play. Iowa could play five games if it reaches the tournament title game. Maravich’s all-time scoring record is 140 points more than Plum’s, which at Clark’s current pace would take about five more games and could happen in the tournaments.

Iowa’s regular season schedule
Feb. 3: at Maryland (FOX Sports, 8 p.m. ET)
Feb. 8: vs. Penn State (Big Ten Network, 9 p.m. ET)
Feb. 11: at Nebraska (FS1, 1 p.m. ET)
Feb. 15: vs. Michigan (Peacock, 8 p.m. ET)
Feb. 22: at Indiana (Peacock, 8 p.m. ET)
Feb. 25: vs. Illinois (FS1 1 p.m. ET)
Feb. 28: at Minnesota (Peacock, 9 p.m. ET)
March 3: vs. Ohio State (FOX 1 p.m. ET)
March 6-10: Big Ten TournamentWhat scoring records can Caitlin Clark set?More NCAA Division I career marks are also a possibility, including scoring average, points in a season, 3-pointers and assists.

Hoskins holds the career scoring average record of 28.4 ppg from 1986-89. Clark’s career average is 27.7 ppg. Her 31.5 ppg this season currently places her in the top five for a single-season scoring average and trails Hoskins’ record mark of 33.6 ppg set in 1989.

Plum holds the record for most points in a season with 1,109, which she set over 35 games as a senior. Clark scored 1,055 points as a junior and at her record-setting pace of around 30 ppg, could reach the four-digit threshold by the end of the 30-game regular season.

Stiles (1,062), Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist (1,081) Baylor’s Odyssey Sims (1,054) and Iowa’s Megan Gustafson (1,001) are the only other players to crack quadruple digits in a season.

Kelsey Mitchell set the career 3-point record at Ohio State from 2015-18 with 497 on 1,286 attempts (38.6%). Idaho’s Taylor Pierce holds the season 3-point record with 154 in 2019 (on 389 attempts). Clark came close to it as a junior with 140 shooting 38.9% and has 423 career 3s on 1,109 attempts (38.1%).

Though she’s dishing out slightly fewer assists this season, Clark will soon break into the top-10 all-time. She has 909 through Jan. 2, trailing the 921 by La’Terrica Dobin (Northwestern State). Suzie McConnell holds the record with 1,307 at Penn State.

Caitlin Clark by the numbersUpdated as of Jan. 22

20 — point threshold she’s hit every game this season

1 — Time she scored in single digits (8 vs. Northwestern in her 10th collegiate game)

15 — Number of times in 121 career games she’s scored fewer than 20 points

8 — Games with at least 35 points, 10 assists (the rest of Division I over the past 25 seasons has combined for 10 such games)

15 — Triple-doubles, trailing leader Sabrina Ionescu (26) for Oregon

11 — 40-plus-point performances

49 — Performances of at least 30 points, a D-I men’s and women’s record

25 — Big Ten Player of the Week honors, a record. The previous all-time record was 23 set by Iowa forward and 2019 Naismith winner Megan Gustafson.

40% — Of her points have come from beyond the arc