IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark scored 32 points, moving into fourth place on the all-time NCAA Division I women’s basketball scoring list, to help No. 2 Iowa beat Wisconsin 96-50 on Tuesday night.
Clark now has 3,306 career points and passed Baylor’s Brittney Griner (3,283 points) on the all-time list with the first of two free throws with 7:02 left in the first half.
It’s “kind of full circle,” said Clark, who recalled seeing Griner and Baylor play in an NCAA Tournament regional final in 2012 in Des Moines, close to Clark’s hometown of West Des Moines.
“I was still pretty young,” said Clark. “I think that was (Tennessee coach) Pat Summitt’s last game, I do remember that. That’s like my core memory of Brittney Griner. Just to be in the same vicinity of some of those names is super special. It’s cool, they’re people I grew up watching. So it’s special.”
“It’s pretty impressive,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said.
Clark said she has learned to appreciate the historic moments that are growing in her career.
“It’s hard for me to wrap my head around all of it,” she said. “I’m just trying to stay in the moment, enjoy every single second of it.”
Clark keeps adding up the points, but her shoe stock is dwindling. She gave the shoes she wore in the game to a young girl wearing a Clark jersey.
“Usually they don’t say much because they’re in shock,” said Clark, who smiled as she slid across the court in her socks after giving the shoes away. “It was cute — she was copying our stretching when we were warming up. I thought it was cute.”
Clark, the nation’s leading scorer at 30.9 points per game, missed her first four shots and didn’t have a field goal in the first nine minutes of the game. But she finished 8 of 18 from the field, 6 of 14 in 3-pointers.
Kate Martin had 16 points and Sydney Affolter had 12 for the Hawkeyes (18-1, 7-0 Big Ten), who extended their winning streak to 15 games.
“I thought Syd worked so hard again,” Bluder said. “And Kate Martin continues to play like a pro. She’s really playing well.”
Wisconsin (8-9, 1-6) was within 21-17 in the second quarter before the Hawkeyes went on a 13-0 run. The Badgers fought back to within 40-28 later in the quarter, but Martin and Clark hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a 34-second stretch in the final two minutes of the quarter as Iowa led 46-30 at halftime.
“I think they kind of put their foot on the gas a little bit,” Wisconsin coach Marisa Moseley said. “And I think for our kids, we took a step back at that point.”
The Hawkeyes, who had 25 assists on 29 field goals, made 15 3-pointers.
“Obviously, they’re a pretty well-oiled machine,” Moseley said. ““So they know where each other it’s going to be at what time. I think for us, we’re a much younger team and much more inexperienced team, and so I think you saw the difference in that, especially once the second half.
Serah Williams had 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Badgers.
Iowa swept the season series with the Badgers and has a 29-game winning streak in the all-time series.
BIG PICTURE
Wisconsin: The Badgers kept pace with the Hawkeyes for the first 13 minutes before foul trouble mounted. Wisconsin was called for 11 first-half fouls, sending Iowa to the free-throw line 13 times. That helped the Hawkeyes pull away. Wisconsin was called for 25 fouls in the game.
Iowa: The Hawkeyes were without injured sophomore Hannah Stuelke, so coach Lisa Bluder went with a post-by-committee of starter Sharon Goodman, Addison O’Grady and A.J. Ediger. The three combined for 15 points and nine rebounds. “Our bench, I have so much confidence going to them,” Bluder said. “Hannah didn’t play tonight, and we’re still able to win by 40 points.”
UP NEXT
Wisconsin: Hosts Minnesota on January 23.
Iowa: At No. 18 Ohio State on Sunday.
TOP PHOTO: Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives to the basket over Wisconsin guard D’Yanis Jimenez, left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa won 96-50. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)