More records, notoriety for Hawkeye superstar Clark

By TIM REYNOLDS

AP Basketball Writer

Caitlin Clark is going to the Final Four this weekend with yet another milestone on her resume: She’s the all-time women’s Division I leader in points per game, too.

For now, at least.

Clark’s 41-point effort that led Iowa past LSU on Monday night lifted her career scoring average to 28.47 points per game. That puts her No. 1 on the all-time Division I women’s points per game list, just ahead of Mississippi Valley State’s Patricia Hoskins — who averaged 28.38 points in 110 games from 1985 through 1989.

Clark’s career average was 28.375 points entering Monday. She needed 30 points to pass Hoskins on the Division I women’s career-average list.

Of course, she’s still playing. So, it’s not certain yet that Clark — who is going to the WNBA after this season — will finish No. 1 in women’s average.

Clark would need at least 17 points against UConn in the national semifinals on Friday night to keep her career average ahead of Hoskins. If Iowa wins Friday and plays in the national championship game on Sunday, Clark would need at least 46 points over the two Final Four games to remain atop the list.

“When the stage is the brightest, when the spotlight is the brightest, she’s at her very best,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said Tuesday. “She loves this. Some people wither in the moment. She just gets stronger in the moment. When it’s her time, I mean, she’s going to just shine.”

Clark is already the all-time Division I scoring leader with 3,900 total points. That’s 233 ahead of men’s Division I record holder Pete Maravich and 373 ahead of Kelsey Plum — who had been the women’s all-time record-holder before Clark passed her earlier this season.

Clark also became the all-time 3-pointers made leader at the women’s Division I level on Monday night. Clark connected on nine 3s against LSU, giving her 540 for her career — three more than the previous record holder, Taylor Robertson of Oklahoma.

Among Clark’s other major women’s Division I records:

— She’s the only player in women’s Division I history with at least 3,000 points and 1,000 assists. Only two others (Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot) reached 2,000 points and 1,000 assists.

— Barring something incredibly improbable, she will become the first three-time season scoring champion in the women’s Division I era.

— Clark’s 1,183 points (and counting) this season is the most by any player in a season, topping the record of 1,109 by Plum.

— Clark’s 193 3-pointers (and counting) this season are another women’s Division I record, well ahead of the mark of 154 set by Idaho’s Taylor Pierce.