After a 38-point scoring outburst during Iowa's 93-85 win over Maryland on Saturday, Caitlin Clark is now 66 points shy of breaking Kelsey Plum's all-time scoring record in women's NCAA basketball — and appears poised to break Plum's record within the next week.
While one might assume that Plum would prefer for her record to hold up, everything that she has been saying about Clark's pursuit suggests otherwise. In fact, Plum is even relieved that the record will no longer be hers to bear.
"I'm actually very grateful to pass that baton," Plum said. "[The record] was very much a low point in my life."
Plum continued: "It felt like a lot of pressure, and my identity was kind of caught up in that record. I hope everyone in the media takes time to understand that [Clark] is not just a basketball player but a young woman that has feelings and emotions. She carries it with grace, but there's a lot to handle there.
"If anything," Plum said, "make sure that we show her love outside of her performance. She'll break it. I'm excited for her."
Plum is able to offer a unique perspective on the record chase, given she's one of the very few who've been in such a position before. She is right that Clark handles these immense pressures with impressive poise. But one would imagine that if the scoring title was such a burden for Plum, it must be for Clark as well.
One thing Plum said seems certain: Clark — barring some kind of catastrophic injury — is going to break her record.
Iowa's next game is on Thursday against Penn State. It isn't likely Clark will put up 66 points in that game (although we wouldn't put it past her). Yet, if she can score her current average of 32.4 points per game in that contest, it will set her up to potentially break Plum's record on Sunday during an away game at Nebraska.
Even if Clark doesn't reach the record on Sunday, she'll surely be extremely close — putting her in position to surpass it the next Thursday during a home game against Michigan.
Considering that most of us will be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday, here's to hoping that Clark will leave the record for that Michigan game — so the world can witness her historic moment.
