Caitlin Clark is the woman of the moment. Thursday night (Feb. 15), Clark became the NCAA women’s career scoring leader. She set Iowa’s single-game scoring mark with 49 points and helped bring the No. 4 Hawkeyes to a 106-89 victory over Michigan.

Clark surpassed Kelsey Plum’s previous total of 3,527 to break the record. She also surpassed the single-game scoring mark of 48 points set in 2018 by Megan Gustafson.

She added 13 assists for her 58th career double-double and now has 3,569 career points. Clark shot 16 of 31 from the field, as well as 9 of 18 from 3-point range. The Iowa vs. Michigan game was also the 12th 40-point game of her career.

Clark needed just eight points to surpass Plum’s record, and she did so early. She nailed a 35-foot 3-pointer with 7:48 left in the first quarter to break the record. She also had a whopping 28 points in the first half.

This was really the biggest news in college basketball of the week. I was watching men’s NCAA basketball last night, with the Purdue Boilermakers going up against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and they kept breaking in with the news of Clark breaking records. The announces mentioned it throughout the game and, of course, during the halftime show. If you’re wondering, No. 2 Purdue won that game to continue on their winning trajectory for the season. But, it was a close game, and they were trailing Minnesota for a good portion of it, so it was much closer than expected.

Iowa was comfortably ahead of Michigan with 53-41 at halftime, with Iowa shooting 63% from the field and 60% from long distance. Michigan shot 56% in the half, but missed a bunch of shots. As for the Wolverines, Jordan Hobbs was the highest-scoring player for Michigan with 16 points. Lauren Hansen had 14 points. Chyra Evans and Taylor Woodson each scored 13. Laila Phelia scored 12.

“The University of Iowa is the right place for this to happen. It absolutely is,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said publically after the game. “This is a place that supported basketball, women’s basketball, for such a long time.”

“I knew it was going to be kind of one of those nights and I kind of played with a bit more pep in my step and I knew that’s what the team needed after coming off of a loss,” Clark said in a press conference after the game.

Later, Clark added, “During warmups, my shot felt pretty good. Usually as a shooter you know. The ball comes off your hand a little better some nights other than others. When you make a couple shots as a shooter that’s a green light to get another one up and that’s exactly what it was. I’m glad I made my first three.”

Now, Clark is on the hunt to beat the all-time major women’s college scoring record of 3,649 points previously set by Kansas’ Lynette Woodard from 1977-81. We here at AlternativeFix.com send our congratulations to Clark on this major victory.

Next up, the Michigan Wolverines will host Michigan State on Sunday (Feb. 18). Iowa will head to Indiana to play on Thursday (Feb. 22).

Historic night in Iowa City. #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/92tsV2M62C

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 16, 2024