Matchup between Northwestern, Caitlin Clark's Iowa leads to sellout game
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) – Shooters shoot, and Iowa's Caitlin Clark has never stopped shooting.
The college star put her skills on display Wednesday night against Northwestern, and left many impressed.
"Like Stephen Curry, you walk into the gym, and your range is endless," Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said before the game. "I think that's part of the challenge. What makes her special is she just sees the game at a much different level -- and I think that's why having teammates that have played together, they know what she's thinking, and she knows exactly what they're going to do."
Northwestern had actually done pretty well against Clark and the Hawkeyes historically, and had held her to about 21 points per game in their six previous matchups before Wednesday. But the hype was never as high as it was before Wednesday's matchup, and Clark ended up with a lot more than 21 points.
Outside Northwestern's Welsh Ryan Arena in Evanston earlier Wednesday, it felt more like a home game for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Basketball fans back in the day used to say they wanted to be like Mike – that is, of course, Michael Jordan – but now, plenty of fans want to be like Caitlin.
"We got here at 10, and we have been standing out here since 10 a.m.," said Madisyn Bellin.
Bellin was first in line for general admission to the game. Her 10 a.m. arrival was nine hours before tipoff.
"I love Caitlin Clark, and it's just like worth the time to see her play," said Bellin. "I play basketball, so like, it's just good to see like how many people are starting to like focus and like look on women's sports and watch women's sports."
"I want to be live Caitlin when I grow up," said Nora Arnswald. "I want to be in the WNBA."
"It's a small, intimate arena. It's the smallest arena in the Big Ten. So it's probably the closest I'll ever get," said Emily Beswick. "There's not a bad seat in the house."
Big or small – home and away – Clark has sold out college arenas across the country this year. This was the first ever sellout game for Northwestern women's basketball.
Fans paid hundreds, if not thousands, to watch Clark – last season's player of the year.
"The Super Bowl, if you will, took a back seat to selling, you know, collegiate women's basketball," said ticket broker Steve Buzil, owner of Sitclose Tickets.
Buzil said in his 30-plus-year career, he has sold about 80 tickets for women's college basketball – all of them sold this week for Clark's Game against the Wildcats.
"My wife is going to get a very nice Valentine's Day gift, and my mortgage company is going to get the next two payments ahead of time – so this has been a personal shoutout to that young lady," said Buzil.
While Clark has busted collegiate records, more importantly, she has shattered glass ceilings.
"It's like inspiring, because she's like brought a lot of awareness for like women's sports – especially women's basketball," said Evie Holstine.
And fans got to see some history as Clark add more accolades during the game against Northwestern Wednesday night.
During the game, Clark passed Missouri State's Jackie Stiles for third on the NCAA list when she made a 3-pointer with 2:04 left in the first quarter. She moved ahead of Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell when she converted a layup with 4:58 left in the first half, making her the career scoring leader for the Big Ten.
Clark finished the night with 3,424 points, departing to a big ovation with 4:23 remaining. Next up is Kelsey Plum, who starred at Washington from 2013-17 and tops the women's scoring list with 3,527 points.
Northwestern lost the game to Iowa Wednesday night by a score of 110-74. Clark had 35 points and 10 assists in the game.
"I'm just grateful to be able to do it with these girls. I love them to death. These coaches, they put me in positions to be successful, and you know, I've had a lot of really good teammates in my time here – and I can't do it without all of them. I can't do it without Coach [Lisa] Bluder letting me have the keys to the offense – and you know, we play uptempo, we play fast, we play fun basketball, and that's what it's all about," Clark said after the game. "But it's cool to be in the same vicinity as some of those names – a lot of people I grew up idolizing and looking up to – so definitely special for me."