Caitlin Clark reflects on breaking NCAA all-time scoring record

It took about two minutes Thursday night for Caitlin Clark to do what almost everyone expected. The Iowa star passed Kelsey Plum to become the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader with her eighth point against Michigan – appropriately, with a three-pointer from the logo.

As she headed to the locker room with Iowa out in front 53-41, Clark reflected on the moment she moved up to the top spot. She entered the game with 3,520 career points with the record in sight, and she even got an early congratulations from Plum after the last game against Nebraska.

But even after such a special occasion, Clark made one thing clear. Iowa still had some work to do after the first half against Michigan.

“It’s cool,” Clark told Peacock’s Carolina Pineda. “It’s cool to be in the same realm of a lot of really, really good players. Lucky to do it because I have really good teammates, really good coaches and a great support system that surrounds me.

“But we need to play better defense.”

Clark ended the first half with 28 points to go with four rebounds and eight assists as part of a strong offensive showing for Iowa. The Hawkeyes shot 63.3% from the field, including 60% from three-point distance, to take the 12-point lead into the locker room. However, Michigan was also red-hot on offense, shooting 55.9% from the floor in the first two quarters.

After Clark hit the record-breaking shot, Lisa Bluder called timeout so she could get a proper reception from the Carver-Hawkeye Arena faithful. In that moment, she thought about the amount of support she’s received during her college career – both from those close to her and from the Iowa City community.

“Just grateful,” Clark said. “Thankful to be surrounded by people, to be in a city that supports women’s basketball so much, be surrounded by my best friends and people that want to see me be great and push me to be great every single day.”

The scoring record has been one of the biggest headlines in college sports this month, and it became a big draw for TV networks. FOX broke its women’s college basketball viewership record twice this month as fans tuned in to see if Clark would break the record, including Iowa’s last game against Nebraska. Both FOX and Peacock also debuted a “Caitlin Cam” to follow Clark throughout games, including one Thursday night for the record-breaking moment.