8 NCAA Tournament Records Iowa’s Caitlin Clark Could Break This Year
Caitlin Clark took her stardom to another level this season, breaking several NCAA records to cement her place in history.
Just this year, the Iowa star became the NCAA Division I women’s basketball career scoring leader, then broke the all-time scoring record in major women’s college basketball history, and finally passed Pete Maravich for leading scorer in major college basketball history.
Therefore, Clark is no stranger to breaking records as she enters her final NCAA tournament this year. Before she plays her first game on Saturday, here are eight women’s records that Clark could break in the next few weeks:
Most Points in an NCAA Tournament Game
Drake’s Lauri Bauman holds the women’s record for most points scored in an NCAA game with 50 in 1982. Clark’s tournament high is 41, which she did twice last tournament, but in order to break this record she will have to do something she’s never done, which is score 50 points in one game and surpass her career high of 49.
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Most Threes in an NCAA Tournament Game
Clark made eight three-pointers twice in last year’s tournament, which is one behind UConn’s Kia Nurse and South Dakota State’s Courtney Moses for most all-time. In her career, Clark has made nine threes in a single game three times, including twice this year, but has never made 10.
Most Points in an NCAA Tournament
This is the first record that Clark holds herself, scoring 191 points in six games last year to pass Texas Tech’s Sheryl Swoopes for most in NCAA tournament history. In order to break this record, Clark will somehow have to top her incredible performance last season.
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Most Threes in an NCAA Tournament
Clark holds this record as well, making 32 threes over her six games in last year’s NCAA tournament, eight more than Virginia Tech’s Georgia Amoore. This year, Clark averaged a career-high 5.2 threes made per game, and she’s going to have to slightly up her pace to have a chance to break this record.
Most Attempted Threes in an NCAA Tournament
This final record Clark holds on this list is attempted three-pointers in one tournament, with 75 last year. Clark averaged 13.8 three-point attempts per game this year, which would be well on target to break the record if Iowa plays in six games.
Most Field Goals Made in an NCAA Tournament
Clark came close to breaking this record last season, making 61 field goals to find herself second all-time on this list. Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw is still the record-holder, having scored 64 field goals in six games during the 1998 tournament.
Most Career Points in NCAA Tournament Games
Holdsclaw also holds this record, having scored 479 points in 22 games between 1996 and ’99. Clark is currently 167 points behind Holdsclaw on this list, which means she would need to average 27.8 points over six games to break the record. Of course, if Iowa is knocked out of the tournament early, Clark needs to average more than that.
Most Career Threes in NCAA Tournament Games
Finally, this is a record that Clark will likely break by the time the first weekend is over. UConn’s Dianna Taurasi is the current record-holder, making 61 threes in 23 games, but Clark is just 11 behind at 50 and in prime position to top Taurasi early in the tournament this year.