Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark leaves basketball world in awe with 49 points on historic night

Clark tallied a career-high 49 points as she became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball history

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What a night for Caitlin Clark.

The Iowa Hawkeyes star entered Thursday's home matchup against the Michigan Wolverines needing eight points to surpass Kelsey Plum as the all-time scoring leader in NCAA Division I women's basketball history.

She had 23 by the end of the first quarter.

Clark wasted no time making history, knocking down her first three shots for Iowa's first eight points of the contest. Her record-breaking bucket came on a pull-up 3-pointer from the logo just over two minutes into the game, sending the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd in Iowa City into a frenzy.

Clark didn't slow down from there, either.

The senior guard, who entered leading the nation at 32.1 points per game, outscored the entire Michigan team (22 points) in the first quarter with 23 points, shooting 5-for-7 from deep and 8-for-10 overall. She nearly had a 30-point double-double by halftime with 28 points and eight assists.

Clark tied her career high of 46 points, which she set against Michigan in February 2022, on a pair of free throws with under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Then, on Iowa's next possession, she drilled a 3-pointer to set a new career best and Iowa program record of 49 points.

Clark finished with 49 points, 13 assists and five rebounds to power No. 4 Iowa to a 106-89 win. She shot 16-for 31 from the field, 9-for-18 from 3 and 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Her nine made 3-pointers also tied a career high.

Now sitting at 3,569 career points, Clark is less than 100 points away from Pete Maravich's all-time NCAA scoring record for men's and women's of 3,667. Iowa still has four regular-season games remaining, which puts her on pace to break Maravich's record before the Big Ten Tournament even gets underway.

From Angel Reese to Billie Jean King and more, here were some of the top reactions to Clark's historic night:

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