Caitlin Clark breaks Stephen Curry's shooting record despite uncharacteristic showing

Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark took more than 15 minutes of game time to make her first field goal but still managed to pass ex-Davidson guard Stephen Curry in the NCAA record book

Even when Caitlin Clark struggles, the Iowa guard manages to make history. She passed Stephen Curry for most 3-pointers made in one NCAA season (163) despite an uncharacteristically inefficient showing on Friday night against Penn State.

Clark missed her first 11 long-range attempts and threw her arms in the air in relief when she finally connected to move ahead of Curry for the all-time record. Her Hawkeyes claimed a 95-62 Big Ten Tournament win to avoid the same upset fate that befell Ohio State.

Curry, who played in college for Davidson before achieving NBA stardom with the Golden State Warriors, has eagerly watched Clark’s record-breaking play at Iowa. He’s a longtime fan of women’s basketball in part because of his connection to Cameron Brink. The 35-year-old is also simply a supporter of transcendent 3-point shooting.

Just before Clark set the NCAA women’s basketball scoring record earlier this season, Curry told reporters, “I saw somebody breakdown the release time, which is pretty much identical to mine. You can’t help but watch where she is shooting from, the range, confidence and the flare. She is a performer.

“It’s crazy, though, because her shot is like that and at that level. But if you really watch her floor game, it is just as impressive. She’s got the total package. … The amount of attention that she has gained over these last couple of years, every building she goes into has a different energy; it’s great for her and great for women’s basketball.”

There are natural comparisons between Curry and Clark. Both transformed a dormant NCAA program into must-watch TV. Both lit it up from beyond the arc as no one had done before.

Caitlin Clark and Iowa wore custom warm-up shirts made by Nike ahead of their Big Ten tournament opener. (
Image:
Getty Images)
Clark will hope she can replicate what Curry has done professionally with the Warriors; she’ll enter the WNBA this year and is the presumptive No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft.

Iowa steered clear of an upset loss against Penn State after Ohio State, the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament, lost to Maryland. The Hawkeyes had missed out on a regular-season conference title to the Buckeyes, so the Big Ten Tournament developments marked a turning of the table.

“Maryland played a great game. They were really prepared,” said a visibly frustrated Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff. “They played like a team that might have needed this to get in the tournament, and we played like a team that showed up as the No. 1 seed and everybody was just supposed to lie down.”

Ohio State’s coach added: “I don’t think the starters were good, the bench wasn’t good, I wasn’t good.”

Meanwhile, in Iowa’s win over Penn State, Clark finished with 22 points on 5-of-19 shooting (2-of-14 from 3-point range), nine rebounds and seven assists. Her teammates helped carry a bigger scoring load than usual with Clark struggling from the field, chipping in 11 makes from deep.

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Caitlin Clark breaks Stephen Curry’s shooting record despite uncharacteristic showing

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