Caitlin Clark stood alone at the free-throw line on Sunday and made the foul shots that put her atop the all-time NCAA Division I scoring chart.
The flash and pizzazz of her game have made her the biggest name in all of college basketball. Yet it was two free throws after a technical foul that pushed Clark past the late Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old record in No. 6 Iowa’s 93-83 win over No. 2 Ohio State.
Clark entered the game in Iowa City needing 18 points to pass Maravich’s total of 3,667, amassed in just 83 games over three seasons at LSU (1967-70). She finished with 35 to run her total to 3,685 in 130 games.
Maravich’s mark fell four days after Clark broke Lynette Woodard’s major college women’s record when she scored 33 points against Minnesota on Wednesday.
“Just to be in the same realm of all these players who have been so successful, whether it’s Pete or Kelsey Plum or Lynette Woodard — all these people have just given so much to the game,” Clark said. “Hopefully somebody comes after me and breaks my records and I can be there supporting them.”
Best known for her long 3-pointers, Clark was called on to go to the foul line after Cotie McMahon was assessed a technical for giving her a little push during a dead ball with less than a second to go in the first half.
Clark had no immediate reaction after the second shot went through, as if it hadn’t sunk in yet. She said she knew the record had fallen only after it was announced.
It didn’t matter to her that she made history with two free throws rather than a half-court logo 3-pointer.
“That’s like the hardest thing to do in basketball is to make free throws with nobody (around you) at the free-throw line,” she said.
Woodard was among those at Carver-Hawkeye Arena to help Clark celebrate senior day. Also on hand were basketball great Maya Moore, who was Clark’s favorite player, and Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.
“It’s a great time for women’s basketball,” Woodard said in a television interview.