‘3,528 and counting’: Sports world praises Caitlin Clark for women’s hoops scoring record

Division I women’s college basketball has a new all-time scoring leader — Caitlin Clark.

Averaging a career high 32.1 points per game, the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes guard headed into Thursday needing 8 points to pass Kelsey Plum’s record of 3,527.

She scored Iowa’s first three baskets, including two 3-pointers, to give the Hawkeyes an early 8-6 lead and secured the record two minutes and 12 seconds into the game. Clark passed Plum’s record with a signature long range 3-pointer in the first quarter Thursday against the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten rival Michigan Wolverines at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

She finished the opening frame with a career-best 23 and accounted for 31 of Iowa’s 33 points in the first quarter. She also scored or assisted on all 12 of the Hawkeyes’ field goals.

It took Clark 126 games to become the all-time leading scorer, compared to 139 for Plum. The former Washington Huskies guard dropped 57 points in her final regular season career game in 2017 to pass Jackie Stiles’ previous record.

Plum was among one of the earliest figures to congratulate Clark on her record-breaking performance.

Praise poured in for D-I women’s basketball’s new scoring leader.