How good is Iowa's Caitlin Clark? Here are 15 stats that put her dominance in perspective.
The Iowa women's basketball team is headed to its first Final Four appearance in 30 years after a 97-83 win over Louisville in the Elite Eight on Sunday night. The Hawkeyes' success is largely due to the dominant play of star point guard Caitlin Clark. The former five-star recruit has lived up to the hype and then some in her three years on campus, emerging as one of the premier names in all of college sports.
Clark's stardom grew again on Sunday night with a 41-point, 10-rebound and 12-assist performance, it's the first 40-point triple double in NCAA Tournament history (man or woman). She scored or assisted on 70 of Iowa's 97 points, which is a tournament record for most points created by a player in one game. Within the course of the Sunday's game, she became the first Division I player in history, man or woman, to record 900 points and 300 assists in a single season. Those are three more statistical accolades in an already lengthy list.
And there's another one that's pending, Clark needs just 18 more points to pass Iowa legend Megan Gustafson for the Big Ten record for points in a season (1,001).
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She's a three-time All-Big Ten and All-American selection with three Big Ten championships (two tournament, one regular season) and now a Final Four appearance under her belt. Her popularity has grown through eye-popping statistical performances and long-range shooting highlights. And with at least one more year of eligibility left, it's sure to grow.
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Ahead of Iowa's Final Four game on Friday (6 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.), here are 15 stats that put her dominance in greater focus, ranging from career accomplishments to single-season achievements and more:
Some information provided by the University of Iowa sports information department.
- During Iowa's current NCAA Tournament run, Clark has recorded three 20-point, 10-assist games. She has four career 20-point, 10-assist games in the NCAA Tournament, the most in Division I since 2000. No other player has more than two.
- Clark recorded 30 points, 10 rebounds and 17 assists in Iowa's 105-72 Big Ten Tournament championship win over Ohio State. She became the first woman to record a triple-double in the title game and the only Division I player with 30 points and 15 assists in one game over the last 20 seasons. She's also the only woman with three career 30-point triple doubles.
- She's the all-time leader in assists at the Big Ten women's tournament (78).
- Clark made history during the 2021-22 season as the only Division I player ever to lead the nation in points (27.0) and assists (8.0) in the same season.
- Clark became the first player to win the Dawn Staley Award, given to the nation's top guard, in consecutive seasons (2021, 2022) and is a favorite to win again in 2023.
- This season (2022-23) Clark became the seventh player to win multiple Big Ten Women's Player of the Year awards and the second at Iowa (Megan Gustafson). She's won 18 Big Ten Player of the Week awards, which is third most all time.
- Clark is the second player in Big Ten women’s basketball history to have registered more than 2,000 points, 550 assists, 520 rebounds, 110 steals, and 40 blocks in a career.
- With 20 points against Dartmouth on December 21, 2022, Clark reached 2,000 career points in 75 career games, which tied for the fastest NCAA Division I women’s basketball player to do so, joining two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne. She's the fastest Division I player (men’s or women’s) to reach 1,500 career points over the last 20 seasons.
- Clark has recorded at least 25 combined points, rebounds and assists in 88 consecutive games. Only one player (man or woman) has reached 50 games in the last 20 seasons (Courtney Paris, 63).
- Clark holds the longest active streak of consecutive double-digit scoring games in NCAA women’s basketball (89).
- She leads women’s college basketball with 19 games with 25+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists this season.
- Clark has 11 career triple-doubles, a Big Ten record for most triple-doubles in a career, and tied for second-best in NCAA women’s basketball history behind Sabrina Ionescu (26).
- January 2022 might have been the best month of Clark's career. Her 300 points were the most in one month by a Big Ten women's player in the last 20 seasons, and she was the first Division I player (men or women) with 250 points, 50 rebounds and 50 assists in a month since Kemba Walker in March 2011.
- Clark recorded back-to-back 30-point triple-doubles in January 2022. The only players in the NBA, WNBA and Division I men's and women's college basketball since 2000 to do that are Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
- Clark averaged 30.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game in January 2022, playing 40-minute games. No NBA player (playing 48-minute games) has matched or exceeded all of those averages in the month of January since Michael Jordan in 1989 (33.7/8.4/9.1).
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