Caitlin Clark reacts to passing Stephen Curry's single-season 3-pointers record

In the fourth quarter of Friday night’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal, Caitlin Clark made her first three-pointer of the night. It not only added to her consecutive games with a trey streak, but it also broke Stephen Curry’s single-season three-pointers record.

Clark’s bucket was her 163rd three-point field goal of the season, moving her past Curry’s Division I mark of 162 set while he was at Davidson. That’s quite an accomplishment to pass perhaps the greatest shooter of all-time – one who went on to break the NBA’s all-time made three-pointers record.

Even though she missed her first 11 threes of the night, Clark kept shooting. When that first one finally fell, though, she set yet another Division I record.

“Took me a while,” Clark joked after the game. “But hey, that’s what makes it fun. Some of the best shooters in the world have off nights like that from the three-point line. But they all felt good, and that’s all you can ask. Steph’s amazing. Somebody I grew up idolizing. Pretty cool moment.

“We’re excited. Obviously, we get hopefully two more games in this building in front of our fans, who showed out and really traveled and spent a lot of time and money to be here. I’m just happy for our group.”

Clark just missed out on a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to help Iowa to the 95-62 victory over Penn State. That sent the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten semifinals on Saturday, where they’ll take on the winner of Michigan vs. Indiana.

But as Clark struggled from three-point territory, it meant other players had to step up. That’s where Sydney Affolter and Gabby Marshall joined the conversation, scoring 18 points and 15 points, respectively. Kate Martin and Taylor McCabe also reached double-digit scoring.

Most importantly, Iowa found a way to take control of the game even though Clark wasn’t shooting at her usual rate. That came as a result of the loss to Indiana late in the regular season when the Hawkeyes struggled to find answers as the Hoosiers keyed in on Clark. Friday night, they looked like a complete team on both ends of the floor.

“Obviously, I didn’t shoot it too well from three, and that happens,” Clark said. “I think I was 3-for-5 from two, so I probably could’ve taken a few less threes, but obviously, I had to make one before I left tonight. But I thought my teammates were tremendous. I think the Indiana game, especially, that’s really when we looked in the mirror and we were like, we’ve got find ways to succeed when teams are taking me away and making it hard. I thought everybody really stepped up and answered.

“Kate’s been great, Gabbie’s been tremendous over the last few games, Sydney never shies away from any competition. So I’m just proud of them. They’re capable of doing it every night, and that’s exactly what they’ve been doing lately.”

Caitlin Clark: ‘We know what it takes’ to win another Big Ten championship

Iowa will now advance to yet another Big Ten Tournament semifinal. The Hawkeyes are in search of a fourth consecutive conference championship appearance with Caitlin Clark on the roster after winning two of the last three.

With a resounding victory over Penn State in the books, Clark said it’s on to the next game. She thinks Iowa will be ready, too.

“Every single one of these is really special, and obviously, we’re looking for our third in a row,” Clark said. “I think we know what it takes. I’ve been in a Big Ten championship game every single year I’ve been here. We lost my freshman year. I think we know what it takes. We have a good routine. You’ve just got to focus one game at a time.

“We took care of Penn State and then obviously, we’ll play the winner of this game. We’re just excited. I think our group’s playing really great basketball right now, and that’s all you can ask.”