Caitlin Clark Snatches 35-Year-Old NCAA Record Vs South Carolina in March Madness Finale

Published 04/07/2024, 4:40 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

Caitlin Clark has been America’s favorite child for a while now. Since the time she stepped onto the court this season, the 22-year-old has been smashing records. Firstly, she became the highest scorer in NCAA women’s basketball by edging past Kelsey Plum. However, her hunger didn’t stop there as she eclipsed the NCAA’s all-time overall scoring record set by LSU icon Pete Maravich. And now on the night of the historic finale, Clark surpassed the career scoring average of Mississippi Valley State’s Patricia Hoskins.

Hoskins played for the Mississippi Valley State from 1986 to 89 and had an astounding average of 28.38 points per game as per the Hawkeyes State Columnist Chad Leistikow. And Clark, as per the same tweet, was positioned at 28.41 points per contest ahead of the Final. She needed 25 points against South Carolina to etch her name in the history books once again.

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Now that Clark has scored 30 points, she has moved past Hoskins’ record. Currently, she has the highest scoring average in NCAA DI history. Interestingly, this was not the first time that Clark battled against Hoskins for a record. As per ESPN, Clark became the 15th woman to reach the 3000 points milestone in December and she was the second fastest to do so, only behind Hoskins. Clark scored 3000 points in 110 games, but could not beat Hoskins.

Hoskins, on the other hand, in her heyday reached exemplary milestones and has been a fan favorite ever since. With Clark breaking this record, it only proves the excellence of the Iowa Hawkeyes’s powerhouse. However, unfortunately, the game slipped from Clark’s hands and went in the favor of the Gamecocks.

The South Carolina Gamecocks humble Caitlin Clark & Co.

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The Gamecocks won the NCAA Championship Game 87-75. The first half ended with the Gamecocks leading by a 49-46 margin. Despite Clark’s hot start in the 1st quarter with 18 points, Iowa failed to capitalize on it as Dawn Staley and her team stifled their opponent’s offense after that. Clark only managed to score 12 points combined in the next three quarters.

USA Today via Reuters

During the second half, the Gamecocks scored 19 points each in both the third and fourth quarters, whereas the Hawkeyes could only basket 13 and 16 points, respectively. Clark, who was the leading scorer for Iowa, scored 30 points but unfortunately couldn’t lift the title for her team.

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Suffering defeat at the last stage for the second successive season must have stung for the Hawkeyes and Clark will now enter the WNBA without a National Title in her resume. Nonetheless, she ended her legendary collegiate run with yet another record-breaking performance and she bows out as one of the greatest college basketball stars of all time.

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Written by:

Ritvan Pande

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Ritvan Pande is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He covers Perspectives and Classics as the expert in the longform coverage. Inspired by the fabled Chicago Bulls trio of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, Ritvan captures the staggering court encounters in the same competitive style.
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Edited by:

Pragya Vashisth