MINNEAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA Division I record for 3-pointers in a season by a woman or man, finishing with 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on a poor shooting night to lead No. 4 Iowa past Penn State 95-62 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.
Clark missed her first 11 3s before finally connecting in the fourth quarter. It was her 163rd 3-pointer of the season, surpassing Stephen Curry of Davidson (2007-08) and Darius McGhee of Liberty (2022-23) for the most by a D-I player.
Clark, who had already surpassed Pete Maravich as the all-time leading scorer in D-I, finished 2 of 14 from long range and 5 of 19 from the field while facing frequent double-teams. But Iowa (27-4) still had little trouble with Penn State (19-12), leading 31-14 after the first quarter with Clark contributing only four free throws.
The second-seeded Hawkeyes advanced to face either Indiana or Michigan in the Big Ten semifinals on Saturday.
Sydney Affolter scored a career-high 18 points and had nine rebounds for Iowa. Gabbie Marshall scored 15, Taylor McCabe had 12 and Kate Martin had 11 points and nine boards.
Leilani Kapinus led seventh-seeded Penn State with 19 points and Ashley Owusu had 18.
Clark, the nation's leading scorer who came in averaging 32.3 points per game, made her first field goal — a mid-range jumper — early in the second quarter. It was her only basket of the half, but she hit eight of nine free throws before halftime and 12 of 13 overall.
She’d been held without a 3-pointer only once in her college career. Clark went 0-for-6 from beyond the arc but scored 24 points in a win over Purdue on Jan. 13, 2022.
Affolter (3-for-4 on 3s), Marshall (4-for-7) and McCabe (4-for-8) made up for Clark’s misfires beyond the arc.
Martin and Affolter hit 3s to start the game as Iowa raced out to a 10-0 lead.
The Nittany Lions cut Iowa’s lead to single digits just once after the first quarter. An 11-2 brought Penn State within 33-24. But Iowa scored the next nine points to regain control.
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