Driven by Caitlin Clark mania, women鈥檚 basketball soars on sellout crowds
When the University of Iowa tips off against Penn State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Women鈥檚 Basketball Tournament March 8, one thing will be clear to the 20,000 fans fortunate enough to hold a ticket: History is taking flight from center court.
The women鈥檚 tournament at the Target Center in Minneapolis is sold out for the first time, with more than 109,000 fans expected to attend the five-day event that wraps up Sunday. And it鈥檚 largely because Iowa phenom Caitlin Clark sinks 3-pointers in the basket from the midcourt logo like she鈥檚 taking out the trash.
Caitlin Clark mania has firmly taken hold across the nation as the senior wraps up her NCAA career, drawing unprecedented attention to the women鈥檚 game. 鈥溾�� line up for hours in the northern cold seeking tickets and autographs. Her No. 22 Iowa jerseys and shirts have been on backorder for weeks. Fans are snapping up cases of limited-run Caitlin鈥檚 Crunch Time cereal. She鈥檚 signed deals with Gatorade, Nike, and State Farm, and she鈥檚 the first female athlete to earn a multi-year exclusive deal with the prestigious sports trading card company Panini America. She is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.
Why We Wrote This
College women's basketball is making history, selling out crowds and creating intense fan clubs. Behind it all is Caitlin Clark, a University of Iowa senior who embodies the future of the game.
Iowa Hawkeyes fan Suzanne Moore says being in the stands when Ms. Clark made one of her now-famous 鈥渓ogo 3s鈥� against Minnesota on Feb. 28 at the sold-out Williams Arena was unreal.
鈥淐aitlin comes out and she shoots four 3-pointers right away. I鈥檓 sitting with my friends who are Minnesota fans and we鈥檙e just looking at each other and saying, wow, we can鈥檛 believe what we鈥檙e seeing, you know? And then the crowd goes nuts,鈥� recalls Ms. Moore, a retired public health nurse from Albert Lea, Minnesota. Ms. Clark sank eight 3-pointers that night. 鈥淵ou just have the feeling that we鈥檙e never going to see [a player like] this again,鈥� Ms. Moore adds.
Less than a week later, as 3.4 million television viewers tuned in to watch, Ms. Clark toppled the NCAA scoring record 鈥� men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 鈥� with a legendary career point total of 3,685.聽
And yet, this Iowa born-and-raised, 6-foot tall basketball star embodies the duality of what it takes to climb to the height of the game 鈥� competitive and combative on the court while also exuding Midwest nice after the final buzzer. She鈥檚 been criticized for trash-talking her rivals but has pushed back on what many see as a double standard against competitive women. Off the court, she鈥檚 quick to acknowledge her teammates and coaches for what has become an unparalleled collegiate career. She pivots like an effortless spin move between the crush of fan attention, mid-court pressure, and scrutiny over her record feats. All the while, she preserves the warmth of the black-and-gold sisterhood 鈥� inspiring female basketball players of all generations.
鈥淭his is Caitlin鈥檚 moment,鈥� says Kathy Hagerstrom, former head basketball coach at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and a former Division I college player. She鈥檚 been tracking Ms. Clark鈥檚 success since her freshman year at Iowa. 鈥淪he鈥檚 been incredibly gracious in reaching her hand out to others to pull them up onto the podium with her, which I just think is a testament to her, a testament to her parents, a testament to her coach, of being able to include others in her moment.鈥�
Ms. Clark鈥檚 barn-storming run to the NCAA record has drawn comparison to the legacies of prior college basketball record holders (3,527), (3,649), and (3,667) as each mark fell to her relentless drive to the net.聽
Ms. Hagerstrom, for one, is grateful for the opportunity to highlight the historic record and thinks the current fast-moving pace of the game means future generations of players will continue raising the bar and breaking records.
鈥淟ynette Woodard, back in her day, was doing stuff that no one had ever seen before, like Caitlin Clark shooting unbelievable logo 3s and [her] amazing court vision with her fastbreak transition passing,鈥� says Ms. Hagerstrom, who played against Ms. Woodard as a forward for the University of Nebraska in the early 1980s. 鈥淩ecords are at that moment in time. Life changes, the game changes, and the record is still the record.鈥澛犅�
But to Iowa alums and fans scattered across the country, this moment is about more than records. Caitlin Clark mania has delivered something else: a swell of affection and pride for the land of corn, state fairs, and now women鈥檚 basketball.聽
鈥淲atching the little University of Iowa get the press and the attention it has, it just melts your heart,鈥� says Melanie Cordes, an Iowa alum and die-hard Hawkeyes fan who retired to West Melbourne, Florida. 鈥淲hen the basketball players talk about how much they love their coach and the state of Iowa, I know exactly what they mean,鈥� she says, choking back tears.聽聽
Ms. Cordes didn鈥檛 start following the women鈥檚 team until last year, when Ms. Clark led Iowa to the NCAA national championship game for the first time only to lose to Louisiana State University. The full-hearted grandma plans to be in her Iowa gear all day before she gathers with her family to watch the Big Ten quarterfinals Friday night.聽
The women鈥檚 NCAA tournament is . Even if Ms. Clark and Iowa don鈥檛 win the national title this year, Ms. Cordes is already looking to the future. She鈥檒l be following the WNBA for the first time.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine not watching her play,鈥� she says of Ms. Clark. 鈥淚 want to watch her transition into the pros.鈥�
