Caitlin Clark scores the most points in Big Ten history at Northwestern, but the Hawkeyes beat the Cats 110–74.
Caitlin Clark only needed 14 points to achieve the Big Ten record for most points scored in a basketball career. A few more points were scored by her against Northwestern on Wednesday night in Evanston.
At the end of the night, Clark had 35 points upon 11/22 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists. With 4:58 left in the second quarter, Clark scored a driving layup that made Iowa ahead 38-21.
Before Clark’s amazing game, Ohio State University star Kelsey Mitchell held the record for most points scored in a career with 3,402. She held that record from 2014 to 2018.
Clark passed Jackie Stiles (1997–2001) of Missouri State on Wednesday night to become the NCAA’s all-time top scorer.
She now has 3,424 job points, just behind Kelsey Plum, a star player for the University of Washington from 2013–2017 who is now with the Las Vegas Aces. Plum scored 3,527 points in college.
The No. 3 ranked Hawkeyes ran away with the game, beating the Wildcats 110–74 at the end of regulation. Clark’s game-changing basket in the third period set a new record.
The Wildcats had lost four straight games and were 1-6 in conference play in January. They had losses by 40 points or more to No. 14 Indiana (59-100), Illinois (52-93) as well as Penn State (55-95), and a loss by 30 points to No. 20 Ohio State (60-90).
Women’s basketball fans packed Welsh-Ryan Arena for the first time to see the national player for the year, Caitlin Clark, and No. 3 Iowa. It was a very tough test for Northwestern.
The Hawkeyes beat the Wildcats 110–74, making NU’s losing streak for five games. The Hawkeyes are 20–2 and 9–1 in the Big Ten. NU’s conference schedule got tougher right after they lost to No. 14 Indiana by 41 points a few days before.
The Cats won the tip to start the game, which led to a back-and-forth first quarter. As the game began, junior ahead Caileigh Walsh ran down the court and made a three-pointer.
The NU defense changed from any other game as the quarter went on, but it might have been too rough as the Wildcats got seven fouls within the first period.
The last quarter was all Iowa. Clark scored 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while the hots only managed 16 points, ending their loss.
After the media break, the ‘Cats were still in striking geographical separation, with 10 of the host team’s 15 points coming from their bench.
Before the last minute during the first, the biggest lead was five points. But an Iowa layup and two free throws by Clark gave the Hawkeyes a 24–15 lead at the end of the first.
The second quarter was more like what you’d expect from a Big Ten game that involved the No. 2 and No. 13 teams. Quickly, Iowa took over the game. They shot 47% from the field, while the Wildcats only shot 36%.
NU’s bad free-throw shooting in the second frame was not like them at all. The Cats made 78.8% of their free throws, which is the best mark in the Big Ten. However, they only made 4 out of 7 attempts.
Iowa was the third-best team in the country at halftime, with a 47–32 lead. To get going, NU tried to keep up with Iowa’s fast pace, but they only missed shots as well as lost boards.
During the Cats’ three-minute scoring drought at the end of the third quarter, Walsh fouled out for five consecutive games this season, ending the quarter on a bad note. The NCAA record for most points scored in a career is likely to be broken by Clark. The record for most assists given in a career is less likely to be broken.
Iowa still has eight games to play in the regular season. If Clark keeps up her season averages, she will break the NCAA all-time scoring record on February 15 when the University of Michigan comes to Iowa City.
To pass Vandersloot, Clark needs 150 assists. At her current rate of 7.6 APG, Clark would have to play 20 more games or average 9.4 APG over 16 more games.
For the Hawkeyes to make it this far in the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA tournament, they would have to do very well.