Caitlin Clark of Iowa wins her 13th straight triple-double.
It’s thought that the FSU is considering suing the ACC to free up the Grant of Rights. On the Bench, they talk about what this means and what may be on the table at the emergency meeting of the Board of Directors on Friday.
Then we talk about the good and bad things that happened during the Early Signing Period for FSU.
We focus on particular patterns that show the school is going in the right direction and some that are cause for concern.
Iowa beat Loyola Chicago 98–69 at Carver–Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Thursday, with senior guard Caitlin Clark recording her 13th career triple-double. The game was the last non-conference game for the No. 4 Hawkeyes.
Clark scored 35 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and gave out 10 assists. He is the Division I scoring king this season with 30.5 points per game and was recently ranked No. 1 in ESPN.com’s Top 25 players list.
Eighth-grade girls’ basketball history lists only four other games with three or more triple-doubles and at least 35 points. This is her third.
The second triple-double in the history of Division I women’s basketball. The player scored 35 points, grabbed 15 boards, and passed the ball 10 times.
The other one was written in 1995 by Cornelia Gayden of LSU. Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu has the most triple-doubles in Division I history. From 2016 to 2020, she had 26 of them.
Now that Clark has 3,114 points, she is seventh all-time in NCAA history for points scored. She beat out Rachel Banham of Minnesota (3,093 points from 2011–2016) and Jerica Coley of Florida International (3,107 points from 2010–2014) with her showing on Thursday.
With two more points, Clark will pass Lorri Bauman, who is from Des Moines and scored 3,115 points at Drake from 1980–1984, who is also from Iowa.
Clark was born and raised in West Des Moines. Auburn’s Kelsey Plum scored 3,527 points in 2013 to 2017 to become the NCAA’s all-time best.
Clark had nine games in a row where she led both teams in points, rebounds, and assists. She is one game away from tying Stanford’s Nicole Powell (2000–04) for the most games by a player since the 1999–2000 season.
Iowa has won 12 games in a row and is 1-0 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes’ next game is against Minnesota on December 30. ESPN.com ranks Hidalgo as the 10th best player in the world.
Clark wasn’t the only woman in women’s basketball Thursday who had a triple-double. Hannah Hidalgo, a guard for Notre Dame, had the best triple-double to Irish history with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.
In the 83–72 upset win, the junior led Iowa with 28 points, 15 assists, and 10 boards. It was her eighth triple-double in college.
There are now three women in Division I basketball history who have had more triple-doubles than her. The other two are Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon (26) and Chastadie Barrs of Lamar.
By getting a triple-double against a No. 2 team, she joined Dwyane Wade as the only players in Division I history, since 1999-2000, who have done so against a top-two team.
CNN says she has four triple-doubles with 25 points or more, which is the most in Division I history. That’s also the only D-I player in the last 20 years to have four games in a row with at least 20 points as well as 10 assists.
“I think it’s important, and when I can do that, it makes my team really strong for the win,” Clark said of her triple-double.
“Being able to do a lot of different things for my team on the basketball court is something I’m pretty proud of.” The fact that I can do so many things makes me hard to guard.
The Hawkeyes’ win is the best one they’ve had since Lisa Bluder took over as coach in 2000. Iowa’s last win over a top two team was in 1994, when they beat No. 2 Penn State.