‘No reason to freak out’: Caitlin Clark focused on winning amid record chase

The thousands of fans who file into Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday night will witness history.

Because, unless she is unable to do so due to some kind of force majeure, Caitlin Clark will become the new NCAA women’s all-time leading scorer when No. 4 Iowa hosts Michigan at 8 p.m. ET. All Iowa’s superstar guard needs to do is score a measly eight points to surpass the 3,527 points that Kelsey Plum scored during her college career at Washington. Given the way things tend to go for Clark, that will happen sometime in the first quarter.

Clark nearly achieved the feat this past Sunday in Nebraska. She scored 31 points through three quarters and the environment was ripe for her to go off in the fourth. Instead, Clark went an unprecedented 0-for-6 in the final 10 minutes and the Cornhuskers pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year, beating the Hawkeyes, 82-79.

Clark was fuming after the game. Not because she didn’t score eight extra points to break the scoring record, but because she didn’t score any points down the stretch to help her team win. In addition to her game-high 31 points, Clark added 10 assists (to just two turnovers), eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks. She became the first player ever – men’s or women’s – in Division I history to reach 3,000 points and 1,000 assists.

But for an ultra-competitor like Clark, the reigning national player of the year and eventual No. 1 WNBA Draft pick, that remarkable accomplishment was overshadowed by losing the game. 

Afterward, Clark told reporters that “our goals are still intact,” almost as if to psych herself up and not get overly disappointed.

While Iowa fans lucky enough to score tickets to Thursday’s game will likely see her break the record, Clark herself isn’t thinking about that too much. Yes, she knows how special the moment will be, how important it is for women’s basketball, and how happy Hawkeyes fans will be for her. After all, they will have paid a pretty penny to watch her play in person. According to The Boardroom, Thursday’s game is the most expensive ticket in women’s basketball history, averaging $517 per ticket.

But Clark cares most about winning that game, winning the Big Ten championship, making a run to the Final Four and finishing what will likely be her final collegiate season with a national championship ring on her finger.

“I mean, it’s not really on my mind right now,” Clark said Sunday afternoon after being asked about breaking the record at home. Teammate Kate Martin, sitting beside Clark, shook her head in agreement.

“I think just getting better and getting back home and playing in front of our fans and executing the way we know we can execute,” Clark continued. “I think it’s very important for this team.

“The biggest focus right now is just finding ways to grow, finding ways to get better, because it’s another case of us blowing another lead and that’s something that has to stop, and we just could have executed a lot better. That’s my main focus right now.”

The good thing for Clark and Iowa is that the team has a solid track record this season of responding after low moments. Following the team’s other two losses this season – to Kansas State on Nov. 16 and to Ohio State on Jan. 21 – the Hawkeyes blew out the next unlucky opponents. 

“There’s no reason to freak out,” Clark said. “There’s no reason to get down on ourselves. We still control our destiny. That’s all that matters and we have a lot of really great games in front of us. Don’t let one bad loss ruin the rest of the year.

“Maybe it’s a good reset for our team to look in the mirror and find ways to get better.”

Michigan, Thursday’s opponent, is unranked and 16-9 overall with a 4-4 record on the road. The last time Iowa lost consecutive games was during the 2022-23 season when it dropped back-to-backs to then-top 15 teams UConn and NC State on Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, respectively.

Clark hasn’t flat out said that she wants to get this scoring record out of the way. Her predecessors have been more upfront about how that time in their lives affected them personally. Plum has talked about those days being pretty stressful, while Jackie Stiles said when her historic shot went in, she felt instant relief. 

Asked on Sunday if this whole thing has been a distraction, Clark said that it’s not. She understands it comes with the territory of her success.

“When it happens, it happens,” she said. “Really not gonna affect my life that much. Just gonna keep going about my business like I have the past four years.”

While that might be the case for Clark, the thousands of fans cheering her and Iowa on Thursday have been anxiously waiting for this.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.

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