Caitlin Clark scored a record asterisk, as explained: Why Lynette Woodard maintains the unofficial scoring record
When Iowa faces Michigan on Thursday
is likely to break the Division I women’s basketball scoring record.
It is a safe assumption. Clark just needs seven points to equal Kelsey Plum’s record of 3,527, and eight to establish it. Clark averages 32.1 points a game, therefore she will most definitely break the record before the conclusion of the first quarter.
However, while the NCAA will recognize Clark as the official record holder, it will come with a caveat — and not because of Pete Maravich, who owns the men’s NCAA Division I scoring record with 3,667 points. Another outstanding women’s basketball player has a legitimate claim to the scoring championship.
Here’s why Clark’s record will include an asterisk.
MORE: Clark’s journey to becoming Division I’s all-time scoring leader.
Caitlin Clark scored a record asterisk.
The NCAA will state Plum’s 3,527 points are the most ever scored by a Division I women’s basketball player. Lynette Woodard—and most college basketball fans—would disagree.
When Woodard played, the NCAA did not oversee women’s sports. Instead, they were managed by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.
As a result, the NCAA does not recognize the record. Statistics recorded at other institutions affiliated with non-NCAA bodies “are not currently included in NCAA record books, regardless of gender,” an NCAA representative told the Wall Street Journal. There are exceptions to the norm. School or coaching win-loss records are acceptable even if not affiliated with the NCAA, and athlete records can be included provided the player spent at least two of three years with the NCAA, according to the WSJ.
It wasn’t until 1981-82 that the NCAA began holding women’s championships, displacing teams from the AIAW and eventually resulting to the organization’s demise in June 1982.
“It’s like we became second-class citizens,” Marian Washington, Kansas’ women’s coach from 1973 to 2004, told the Wall Street Journal. “All of our great athletes, their records were put on a separate page of [the NCAA] record book.”
Other sporting leagues have included numbers from leagues that were previously outside their purview. AFL statistics are classified as NFL statistics, while MLB just added Negro League numbers to its official record books.
“I just think that we should take care of our history in the same way that men do,” Woodard told the Wall Street Journal. “On the men’s side, I know and care about a lot of guys. But we try so hard to erase women’s voices.”
Woodard was the first female member of the Harlem Globetrotters in 1985 and one of the oldest players signed in the WNBA’s first season when she joined the Cleveland Rockers. She won an Olympic gold medal in 1984, a World Cup medal in Malaysia in 1990, and a silver medal in Rio de Janeiro seven years earlier. She also served as an assistant coach for Winthrop women’s basketball before taking over as head coach from 2017 to 2020. Woodard is a member of both the Women’s and Naismith Basketball Halls of Fame.
There are plenty in the college basketball world who view Woodard’s scoring record as the true mark to beat. Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer told WSJ in an email that Woodard’s record is “THE RECORD.” Both Muffet McGraw and Lark Birdsong view Woodard as the official record-holder, while LSU’s Kim Mulkey (through a spokesman) told the Journal there’s an argument for Woodard to hold the record.
Clark is sure to break Woodard’s record at some point this season. Clark is averaging 32.1 points per game, and Iowa still has five regular-season games and at least two postseason games remaining (Big Ten tournament, NCAA women’s tournament). At her present rate, Clark will break the record in around five games.
“I think she’s an awesome player, and what she’s doing is great for the game,” Woodard told The Wall Street Journal. “Interest levels are at an all-time high, which is expected. “Bring it on.”
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