Iowa
Celebrate Caitlin Clark’s 23rd birthday with her top-23 Iowa women’s basketball moments
Iowa women’s basketball honored during Iowa football vs. Northwestern
Caitlin Clark and members of Iowa women’s basketball were honored on field at Kinnick Stadium during the Iowa football vs. Northwestern game.
Caitlin Clark was born on Jan. 22, 2002.
Twenty-three years later, the Des Moines native and former Dowling Catholic and Iowa women’s basketball superstar is one of the most famous athletes in the country and the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year for the Indiana Fever.
There is plenty to celebrate throughout her illustrious career, so let’s look back at her top-23 moments with the Hawkeyes, with help from her career timeline on NCAA.com.
23. Caitlin Clark gets buckets in first college game (11/25/2020)
Clark put the basketball world on notice in her first college game, notching 27 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. It was the first of many stat sheet-filled outings.
22. Caitlin Clark scores her first 40-point game (1/2/2022)
In a 93-56 win over Evansville, Clark totaled 40 points for the first time in her career. She’d finish her career with 13 such games.
21. Caitlin Clark tallies first career triple-double (12/22/2020)
Clark notched 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to get her first triple double. She’d finish her career with 17, trailing only Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu (26).
20. Caitlin Clark announces she’s entering the WNBA Draft (2/29/2024)
Although not an on-court moment, Clark decided to forgo her final year of college eligibility and enter the WNBA Draft after her senior season. The announcement allowed for her, teammates, coaches and fans to fully enjoy the final weeks of her legendary career.
19. Caitlin Clark becomes Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer (1/31/2024)
With 35 points against Northwestern, Clark broke future Indiana Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell’s Big Ten career scoring record.
18. Caitlin Clark becomes first player with consecutive 30-point triple-doubles (1/20/2022)
Clark became the first Div. I player to ever notch back-to-back 30-point triple-doubles in conference victories.
17. Caitlin Clark breaks Big Ten assists record (12/30/2023)
In a win over Minnesota, Clark broke the conference’s career assists record and became the first Div. I men’s or women’s college basketball player with at least 3,000 points, 900 assists and 800 rebounds in a career.
16. Caitlin Clark surpasses 1,000 career assists (2/11/2024)
In the second quarter of a game against Nebraska, Clark became the sixth player to reach 1,000 career assists and the only one with more than 3,000 points.
15. Caitlin Clarks breaks record for most points in a single NCAA Tournament run (4/2/2023)
With 30 points in the national title game vs. LSU, Clark broke Sheryll Swoops’ record for points in a single NCAA Tournament with 191.
14. Caitlin Clark’s historic 40-point triple-double leads Iowa past Louisville in Elite Eight
With the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA Tournament history – 41 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds – Clark helped Iowa beat Louisville in the Elite Eight. In the game, she also became the first player with 900 points and 300 assists in a single season.
13. Caitlin Clark buzzer-beater vs. Michigan State (1/2/2024)
A signature logo triple ignited Iowa’s 2024 run to a Big Ten Tournament title and NCAA championship game appearance.
12. Caitlin Clark beats No. 2 Indiana at the buzzer (2/26/2023)
In what might’ve ignited her and Iowa women’s basketball’s rise to national superstardom, Clark put away the Hoosiers with a leaning triple as time expired.
11. Caitlin Clark, Iowa women’s basketball make Big Ten history (3/6/2022)
With a 74-67 win over Indiana, Clark and her teammates helped that Iowa team become the first in program history to win both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles.
10. Caitlin Clark’s triple-double helps Iowa to back-to-back Big Ten Tournament titles (3/5/2023)
With the first triple-double in a Big Ten Tournament title game – 30 points, 17 assists, 10 rebounds – Clark led Iowa to a victory over Ohio State and hoisted the trophy for the second straight year.
9. Caitlin Clark drafted No. 1 overall into WNBA (4/15/2024)
Although not a college achievement, Clark being selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever in a stacked draft class was the final bridge between her historic college career and the professional success that would follow.
8. Caitlin Clark, Hawkeyes avenge title game loss vs. LSU (4/1/24)
After losing the 2023 NCAA Tournament final to Angel Reese and LSU, Clark and the Hawkeyes knocked off the defending champions in the Elite Eight the next year. Clark went off with 41 points and 12 assists.
7. Caitlin Clark breaks Steph Curry’s 3-point record (3/8/2024)
In the fourth quarter against Penn State, Clark broke Davidson’s Steph Curry’s single-season 3-pointers made record.
6. Caitlin Clark breaks single-season scoring record (3/25/2024)
With 32 points in a second-round win during the NCAA Tournament, Clark passed Washington’s Kelsey Plum for the single-season scoring record with 1,113 single-season points.
5. Caitlin Clark helps break 3 records in one game (2/28/2024)
In a dominant win over Minnesota, Clark scored her 3,650th point to surpass Kansas guard Lynette Woodard as the highest-scoring player in major-college women’s basketball. Woodard played from 1977-1981 when the sport was still governed by the AIAW.
In the game, Clark also broke the single-season 3-point record, and the Hawkeyes broke the Big Ten’s single-game 3-point record with 22.
4. Caitlin Clarks leads Iowa women’s basketball to third straight Big Ten Tournament championship (3/10/2024)
With an all-time great second half and overtime performance, Clark helped the Hawkeyes beat Nebraska 94-89. She finished with 34 points, 12 assists and a clutch layup with 30 seconds left in regulation.
3. Caitlin Clark’s big night helps Iowa upset No. 1 South Carolina in Final Four (3/31/2023)
In perhaps the biggest game of Clark’s life and in program history to that point, she became the first player to score 40 or more points in consecutive NCAA Tournament games en route to an upset over undefeated No. 1 South Carolina.
2. Caitlin Clark breaks Kelsey Plum’s NCAA women’s basketball scoring record (2/15/2024)
In what was very fitting, Clark launched a deep triple to break the NCAA Div. I women’s college basketball scoring record. She also finished with a career-high 49 points, breaking the program record.
1. Caitlin Clark breaks 54-year-old Div. I college basketball scoring record (3/3/2024)
With a dramatic pair of free throws, Clark became the all-time career points leader in college basketball history, men’s and women’s.
She dethroned the legendary LSU Tiger “Pistol” Pete Maravich, who set the record in 1970.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg scored 16 points apiece, and Aday Mara had two tiebreaking shots in the final 1:22 as No. 3 Michigan defeated Iowa 71-68 on Thursday night.
The Wolverines (28-2, 18-1 Big Ten) were held 18 points below their season scoring average, but managed to hold off the Hawkeyes (20-10, 10-9) in the closing seconds.
Iowa went on an 11-1 run to tie the game at 64 with 1:56 to play before Mara banked in a shot before the shot clock expired, putting Michigan in front again. After Iowa’s Cam Manyawu scored inside to tie the game at 66, Mara, who finished with 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting, scored off a lob with 43 seconds left to put the Wolverines ahead to stay.
Iowa had chances to tie the game on back-to-back possessions, but missed three shots on one of the possessions and lost the ball on another after a turnover by Tavion Banks with seven seconds left.
The Hawkeyes had a final chance to tie the game after Lendeborg made two free throws with four seconds remaining, but Bennett Stirtz’s 3-pointer try was long.
Elliot Cadeau added 11 points for the Wolverines, the Big Ten regular-season champions.
Stirtz led Iowa with 21 points. Manyawu had 14.
Michigan had a 38-25 rebounding edge on the Hawkeyes.
The game was tied at 30 at halftime. Michigan shot 50% from the field, but committed 12 turnovers that Iowa turned into 16 points.
The Hawkeyes were 11 of 31 from the field, with Stirtz especially struggling to make shots. Stirtz, Iowa’s leading scorer this season, made just one of his first nine shots, then hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a 27-second span to give Iowa a 30-28 lead.
Up next
Michigan: Hosts No. 8 Michigan State on Sunday.
Iowa: At No. 9 Nebraska on Sunday.
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Kylie Welker chats with NCAA Digital’s Sophie Starkey about the success of Iowa women’s wrestling and the possibility of winning the inaugural NCAA sanctioned championship.
5 key issues the Iowa Legislature faces in the 2026 session
Eminent domain, property taxes and DOGE cuts are all on the table for legislators this session.
Repeat offenders convicted of multiple serious crimes would receive a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a bill passed by House lawmakers.
House lawmakers debated for more than an hour about high costs, lack of prison space and the bill’s impact on Black Iowans before voting 68-23 to pass House File 2542, sending it to the Iowa Senate.
Seven Democrats, including Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, joined Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.
“It will put public safety first,” said the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison. “It will ensure that the debt to victims and society is paid. It will prioritize victims and public safety over criminals. It will establish real and effective deterrence that is nonexistent in our current system. It will reduce chaos and violence in our society.”
Here’s what to know about the bill.
What would the House Republican three strikes bill do?
Iowans who accumulate three strikes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence, with no parole, under the bill.
That would replace Iowa’s current law that says habitual offenders must serve a minimum three-year prison sentence before they are eligible for parole.
All felonies, as well as aggravated misdemeanors involving sexual abuse, domestic abuse, assault and organized retail theft would be considered level-one offenses that are worth one full strike.
Other aggravated misdemeanors, as well as serious misdemeanors involving assault, domestic abuse and criminal mischief would be considered level-two offenses worth half a strike each.
Lawmakers amended the bill to remove theft, harassment and possession of a controlled substance from the crimes that would count toward a person’s strikes.
And the amendment specifies that the bill would only apply to convictions that occur beginning July 1, 2026.
If someone is arrested and convicted of multiple offenses, only the most serious charge would count towards the defendant’s strikes.
Convictions would not count toward someone’s total if more than 20 years passes between a prior conviction and their current conviction.
Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to say that only a violent crime would qualify as someone’s third strike, but Republicans rejected the amendment.
“The bill still scores murder, felony embezzlement and felony theft the same, even though they are very different crimes,” Wilburn said. “One point is one point and three gets you 20 years with no ability for parole or judicial discretion.”
Holt said the legislation leaves room for judicial and prosecutorial discretion.
“There are deferred sentences, there are plea bargains,” he said. “There is plenty of opportunity for grace and judicial discretion in the legislation that we are proposing.”
Bill could cost millions, require Iowa to build a new prison, agency says
A fiscal analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency said it could cost Iowa nearly $165 million more per year by 2031 based on the cost of housing inmates for longer prison stays.
- FY 2027: $33 million
- FY 2028: $66 million
- FY 2029: $99 million
- FY 2030: $132 million
- FY 2031: $164.9 million
The agency said if the bill had been in effect between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2025, there would have been 5,373 people who qualified for the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.
“An increase in the prison population due to increased (length of stay) will require the DOC to build additional prison(s),” the agency states. “The size, security and other features that a future prison may require cannot be determined, but costs would be significant.”
The analysis noted that South Dakota appropriated $650 million last fall to build a 1,500-bed prison.
As of March 1, the Iowa Department of Corrections’ website describes the state’s prison system as being overcrowded by 25%, with 8,705 inmates compared to a capacity of 6,990.
The Office of the State Public Defender could see a projected cost increase of $1.6 million due to an increased number of trials resulting from the legislation.
But the agency’s estimates come with a caveat — the Department of Corrections did not respond to its requests for data.
“The LSA has not received a response to multiple requests for information from the DOC,” the note states. “Without additional information, the LSA cannot estimate the total fiscal impact of the bill.”
Holt called the fiscal note “an embarrassment to the Department of Corrections” and “an agenda masquerading as math.”
“It is clear, in my judgment, that because they did not like the legislation they went all out and extreme to create a fiscal note that cannot be taken seriously in its assumptions,” he said. “It assumes that nothing will change, that there will be no deterrent factor and that the numbers will continue as usual.”
Black Iowans would be disproportionately impacted by the law
The Legislative Services Agency analysis says the bill “may disproportionately impact Black individuals if trends remain constant.”
Of the 29,438 people convicted in fiscal year 2025 of felonies and aggravated misdemeanors that constitute a level one offense under the bill, the agency said about 70% were White, 22% were Black and 9% were other races.
Iowa’s overall population is 83% White, 4% Black and 13% other races, the agency said.
It’s not clear how the bill’s impact would change to account for the House amendment removing some crimes from counting towards the three strikes.
“Expanding three-strike laws will intensify disparities — and that’s what this statement shows — by mandating longer sentences, limiting judicial discretion,” Wilburn said. “We already have a habitual offender statute. We already have one in place. We have a 10-year low in recidivism in our correctional system.”
Rep. Angel Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, said California’s three strikes law, passed in the 1990s, worsened racial disparities, and “Iowa is about to repeat the same mistake.”
“I urge every member here, do not pass legislation that our own minority impact statement tells us will deepen inequality in our state,” Ramirez said.
Holt said minority communities in Iowa are impacted by crime and that the legislation “will make citizens of all colors safer.”
And he said the minority impact statement “tells only one side of the story, doesn’t it? It tells the criminal’s story. What about the victim’s story?”
“What about the mother who will continue to tuck her kids in at night and read them Bible stories because she never became the next victim of a violent career criminal?” he said. “Where is that data point in the minority impact statement?”
House lawmakers also approved separate legislation that would increase Iowa’s statewide bond schedule, Senate File 2399.
That bill passed on a vote of 74-19.
Iowans could see more information on judges’ rulings
Iowans would have access to more information about judges’ rulings ahead of the state’s judicial retention elections under a separate measure, House File 2719, which passed on a 73-19 vote.
The Iowa secretary of state’s office would be required to publish information including:
- The percentage of cases in which the judge set a bond amount lower than the state’s bond schedule
- The frequency that the judge releases someone on their own recognizance for a violent offense compared to a nonviolent offense
- The frequency that the judge’s final sentence is lower than statutory recommendations or a prosecutor’s recommendations
- The number of times the judge issues a deferred judgement, deferred sentence or suspended sentence
- The number of times the judge’s rulings are reversed on appeal due to abuse of discretion or error of law
- The average time it takes the judge to rule on a motion or case
- The number of cases the judge has resolved compared to the number of cases on the judge’s docket
The data would have to be displayed with a five-year trend line beginning five years after the bill takes effect.
The Secretary of State’s Office would also be required to maintain a searchable database of all judicial opinions and orders for the judge’s current term and the preceding six years. The decisions would be redacted when appropriate.
And judges would have the opportunity to write a 2,000-word personal statement on their judicial philosophy or data trends present in their rulings.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.
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