Late Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa Bryant rejoices as $818,000 Caitlin Clark becomes highest scoring woman in NCAA: WATCH
Caitlin Clark broke the women's college basketball scoring record on Thursday night with a logo 3-pointer that settled the matter within two minutes of the 106-89 win against Michigan.
The popular Clark finished the contest with an extraordinary 49 points, five rebounds and 13 assists to lead her team to a comfortable home win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The tributes for her landmark record have started pouring in.
Vanessa Bryant was one of the celebrities who rejoiced when Clark, who has an On3 NIL valuation of $818,000, broke the scoring record. Bryant posted a video of the moment on her Instagram stories alongside a poster celebrating the achievement.
Vanessa Bryant, wife of late NBA legend Kobe Bryant, also posted a video to her Instagram stories showing the moment Caitlin Clark etched her name in the annals of college basketball history:
Caitlin Clark gives raw halftime interview
With the press clamoring to speak to Caitlin Clark after she broke the women's basketball scoring record well inside two minutes, it was a halftime interview that captured her rawest feelings of the moment since.
Talking to the Associated Press, Clark was typically modest and instead chose to focus on her teammates and coaches.
“Just good to be in the same realm of a lot of really, really good players,” Clark said. “Lucky to do it, because I have really good teammates, really good coaches and a great support system that surrounds me — but we need to play better defense.
“I dreamed of doing really big things, playing in front of big crowds, going to the Final Four, maybe not quite on this level. I think that’s really hard to dream. You can always exceed expectations, even your own, and I think that’s been one of the coolest parts.”
Caitlin Clark also acknowledged the crowd that had thronged Carver-Hawkeye Arena to see her break the long-standing record and set her sights on loftier goals for her team.
“It’s pretty unreal, this crowd’s unreal,” Clark said. “I’m just really grateful, honestly, to be able to be here and make so many of my dreams come true. We’re not done. We’re still looking for a little more.”
Clark even had a parting shot revealing the advice she would give her younger self.
“Never stop dreaming. And I still keep dreaming, and I’m 22 years old,” Clark said. “So never stop.”
Not one to stop at merely breaking the record so early in the contest, Clark kept her focus and ensured that the Iowa Hawkeyes aced the game against the Michigan Wolverines.