How did Caitlin Clark do it? In-depth look at Iowa star's run at NCAA scoring record

Iowa's Caitlin Clark didn't waste any time Thursday night in Iowa City, Iowa, becoming the all-time leading scorer in women's NCAA basketball history.

After the Hawkeyes' upset Sunday to Nebraska, Clark was just seven points shy of Kelsey Plum who set the career points mark in 2017. Clark passed the former Washington standout's 3,527 points in just over two minutes of the Iowa's game with Michigan.

How many points does Caitlin Clark need to break the record

With the women's record in the rearview mirror, only two other men's Division I players now stand between Clark and the overall points record. Pete Maravich has held top spot for five decades with 3,667 points – just 98 points more than Clark following Iowa's 106-89 win over Michigan.

Caitlin Clark’s scoring, season by season

How exactly did Caitlin Clark get here?

It helps when you are the nation's leading scorer in all but one season. She finished second in scoring last year with 1,055 points – a 192-point improvement over her sophomore year. Maddy Siegrist of Villanova topped Clark by 26 points, averaging 29.2 points per game to Clark's 27.8, according to Sports Reference data.

Caitlin Clark’s scoring, game by game in 2023-24

Clark has scored 40 points four times this season. That makes a dozen in her Hawkeye career – a feat that hasn't happened in more than a quarter of a century. Her 49 points on Thursday night is the most in single game for a Iowa women's basketball player.

At this pace (32.8 points per game), Clark could top Maravich's record 3,667 points before No. 4 Iowa plays in the Big Ten or NCAA tournaments. The Hawkeyes have four regular season games remaining, including a March 3 finale against No. 2 Ohio State in Iowa City.

Caitlin Clark becomes women's scoring leader

Clark needed 39 points going into Iowa's Super Bowl Sunday matchup with Nebraska to pass Plum. She was on pace early in the game, but she and the Hawkeyes went cold in the fourth quarter. That left her seven points behind Plum as she started Thursday night's game.

Neither she nor the Hawkeyes disappointed another sell-out crowd in Iowa City. She scored the team's first eight points to pass Plum and Iowa cruised by the Wolverines by 17 points.