Caitlin Clark on dealing with physical Maryland defense in first half

Caitlin Clark is undisputably one of the biggest stars to come along in women’s college basketball for quite some time. The sport hasn’t seen a phenomenon quite like her, ever. On Saturday night, she still managed to torch the Maryland defense for 23 points in the first half, despite dealing with their physical style of defense.

At halftime, the superstar spoke about how she was handling the different defenses they were throwing at her.

“You know, I think that was what we were ready for. That’s what you prepare for. You’re on the road. You’re not gonna get many calls. And I think just being physical back with them. That’s how the refs are playing our game. Change up our defense a little bit, but keep driving. I think we’re doing a good job. Kind of reset ourselves. I’m so proud of the girls,” Clark said.

Iowa ended up defeating Maryland on Saturday night, 93-85. They were of course, carried by their superstar, Caitlin Clark. She finished the game with yet another spectacular performance–stuffing the stat sheet with 38 points, 12 assists, and six rebounds.

Caitlin Clark made history on Wednesday night

The Iowa women’s basketball team celebrated one of their most dominant wins of the season on Wednesday night defeating Northwestern 110-74 behind 35 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds from star player Caitlin Clark.

It was a historic night for the reigning national player of the year, who surpassed Ohio State‘s Kelsey Mitchell in the second quarter to become the No. 2 all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball history. A record that she admitted was not necessarily on her radar as a goal she wanted to achieve during her career.

“No, I did not. Honestly I didn’t even know at what point it occurred,” Clark said after the game. “I think the coolest thing is just the names that I get to be around. Those are people that I grew up watching, especially Kelsey Plum, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Mitchell.”

Clark’s 3,424 career points made her the NCAA’s second all-time leading scorer, placing her 104 points shy from surpassing former Washington All-American Kelsey Plum who notched 3,527 points in 2017 to take women’s college basketball’s scoring crown.

“Those are really, really great players. People that are still playing our game at the very highest level and people that you watch night in and night out. So just special for me to be in the same area as them,” Clark said.

Clark surpassing Mitchell also makes her the Big Ten Conference’s all-time leading scorer, adding to her lengthy list of accomplishments and accolades in her historic career that’s helped bring heightened attention to the sport overall and inspired young women across the nation.

Clark’s historic performance came in front of a sell-out crowd in Welsh-Ryan Arena in a road game for the Hawkeyes, something that has become common for Iowa who’s consistently set attendance records and sold out home and away games all season long.

Her name in the record books will forever be set in stone, but Caitlin Clark’s positive impact on women’s basketball overall is immeasurable and something that will forever be fondly looked upon in the history of the sport.

On3’s Kaiden Smith also contributed to this article.