Iowa vs. Minnesota women's basketball live updates: Caitlin Clark chasing Pistol Pete

Caitlin Clark and No. 6 Iowa travel to face Minnesota in a Big Ten showdown Wednesday night and all eyes will be on Clark – as always – as she continues to pad her points total.

Clark, who now holds the NCAA Division I women’s basketball all-time scoring record, needs 51 points to pass Pete Maravich. Who is Pistol Pete, you ask?

Maravich played for LSU from 1967-70, scoring 3,667 points in just three years. He did so at a time when freshmen could not play varsity basketball, there was no shot clock and no 3-point line.

Clark, who is nicknamed “Ponytail Pete”, has two regular-season games remaining. The Hawkeyes will face No. 2 Ohio State in Iowa City on Sunday afternoon. While that is senior day, Clark has not said whether she will return for a possible fifth year – which she is eligible for because of the COVID season.

Tickets for that game are averaging more than $500.

Follow along as Clark and the Hawkeyes take on the Gophers:

Another (3-point) record for Caitlin Clark

Ho-hum, another day, another milestone for Caitlin Clark.

This time, with her seventh 3 of the night — with 7:16 left to in the third, no less — Clark has set an NCAA single-season record for made 3s, with 155. She surpasses former Idaho standout Taylor Pierce, who hit 154 treys in the 2018-19 season.

It’s worth pointing out that the career 3-point record belongs to Taylor Robertson, the sharpshooter who played at Oklahoma from 2018-2023. She had 537 in her career. Clark now has 502. Might she catch Robertson?

Halftime: Iowa 53, Minnesota 26

It seems inevitable that Caitlin Clark is going to set a new career-high for made 3s in a single game. Her high is nine, she’s already got six and we have 20 more minutes left to play. Goodness.

She leads all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting overall. In the first quarter, she scored or assisted on 21 of Iowa’s 30 points.

But Clark’s far from the only person connecting from deep: As a team Iowa’s already hit 12 (12!) 3s, and is shooting 57% from the arc. Not bad at all. The Hawkeyes are pouring it on from Kylie Feuerbach has three and Gabbie Marshall has two. (Marshall, by the way, has officially hit 1,000 career points.)

For good measure, Clark also has six assists, including this nifty bounce pass to Marshall in the lane:

End of 1Q: Iowa 30, Minnesota 16

One good way to build a 14-point lead over the first period is to reel off multiple 9-0 runs. The first one was all Caitlin Clark (unsurprising!) and the second involved a few Hawkeyes. And that’s how Iowa has a 30-16 lead.

That, and Clark already tallying 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Not too shabby, especially after a few rough games the last couple weeks where Clark didn’t shoot very well. She scored 35 on the Golden Gophers last time. Does she top that tonight?

As a team, Iowa is shooting 61% — that’s not how you pull an upset, Minnesota. And Clark isn’t the only one with a hot hand: Kylie Feuerbach is also 2-of-3 from long-distance.

Iowa also leads in fast break points, 10-0. Right now, the Hawkeyes are scoring from anywhere they want.

7:05, 1Q: Iowa 12, Minnesota 2

Nothing like a little 9-0 run from the reigning national player of the year to open the game.

Caitlin Clark reeled off nine straight points — including a logo 3, of course — before Minnesota finally got on the board. Then Clark responded by … hitting another 3.

She’s 51 away from the record and logic would say she’ll break it Sunday on senior day when Iowa hosts Ohio State. But maybe Clark has other plans, given that she already has 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting. She’s also grabbed three rebounds already.

Seems like it’s gonna be a long night for the Golden Gophers.

The Hawkeyes (24-4, 13-3 Big Ten) travel to Williams Arena in Minneapolis to take on the Gophers (15-12, 5-11) on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. The game will be shown on the Peacock streaming service. Cindy Brunson will handle the play-by-play duties, with Julianna Viani as the analyst.

The Hawkeyes fell back to No. 6 after a loss to Indiana. After tonight’s game in Minnesota, they have one regular-season game left, at home on senior day against No. 2 Ohio State.

The strain to call Caitlin Clark’s eventual 3,668th point a milestone or important moment for women’s sports is the kind of illogical nonsense that can only serve to create an unnecessary backlash, Dan Wolken writes.

Clark enters Wednesday’s game with 3,617 career points, just 51 from passing Pete Maravich on the all-time scoring list. She is averaging 32.1 points per game this season and has two regular-season games remaining, plus Big Ten and NCAA tournament games.

What is Caitlin Clark’s highest-scoring game?
Clark’s highest-scoring game was also her record-breaking performance on Feb. 15 against Michigan in the 2023-24 season, when she scored 49 points. Clark shot 16-for-31 that game, including 9-for-18 from 3. She also grabbed five rebounds and handed out 13 assists in the 106-89 win.

Love her, hate her, like her or think she’s overrated, one thing is for sure: The senior guard from Iowa has serious game.  Not sure exactly where you stand? We can help you out. This USA TODAY Sports quiz will reveal the answer to a crucial question as we prep for March Madness: What kind of Caitlin Clark fan are you? — Lindsay Schnell

Caitlin Clark game-by-game points this season

Here’s a breakdown of Clark’s scoring this season for the Hawkeyes:

vs. Illinois, 2/25/24: 24 points

at Indiana, 2/22/24: 24 points

vs. Michigan, 2/15/24: 49 points  (season-high, school record for single game)

vs. Nebraska, 2/11/24: 31 points

vs. Penn State, 2/8/24: 27 points

at Maryland, 2/3/24: 38 points

at Northwestern, 1/31/24: 35 points

vs. Nebraska, 1/27/2024: 38 points

at Ohio State, 1/21/2024: 45 points

vs. Wisconsin, 1/16/2024: 32 points