Iowa Hawkeyes junior guard Caitlin Clark has tied former Delaware star Elena Delle Donne as the fastest in Division I women's basketball this century to reach 2,000 points.
Clark had 20 points in Wednesday's 92-54 victory over Dartmouth in Iowa City, Iowa. That pushed Clark to 2,013 points in the 75th game of her Iowa career.
Delle Donne, the No. 2 WNBA draft pick in 2013 who has since won the league MVP award twice and the 2019 league championship, also crossed the 2,000-point mark in her 75th college game, in 2012. Delle Donne began her WNBA career with the Chicago Sky and is now with the Washington Mystics.
"Elena Delle Donne, she's a person I idolized growing up. I have her shoes in my locker, I wear them," said Clark, who gave away her own shoes to a young fan at Carver-Hawkeye Arena after Wednesday's game. "She actually just sent me a pair shoes that are dedicated to Lyme disease. Elena Delle Donne has battled Lyme disease in her career. She's an awesome human."
Clark and Delle Donne are the quickest women's players to hit 2,000 since the 1999-2000 season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The NCAA has not confirmed if they are the quickest to do so since the start of the NCAA Division I era for women's basketball, which began with the 1981-82 season.
Delle Donne finished her college career with 3,039 points, putting her ninth on the NCAA Division I women's list. Leading is former Washington star Kelsey Plum (3,527), the 2017 No. 1 draft pick who won the 2022 WNBA title with the Las Vegas Aces. Plum and Delle Donne are among 13 women's players who have scored 3,000 or more points in the NCAA era.
Clark is averaging 27.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists for the No. 13 Hawkeyes (10-3). She led Division I in scoring average and assists last season. Her single-game career high is 46 points, set last season against Michigan, and her current season high is 45, set Dec. 1 against NC State.
Clark is the fourth Iowa women's player, and seventh in Hawkeye women's and men's history, to reach 2,000 points. Her teammate, super senior Monika Czinano, is 11 points from reaching 2,000.
"It's such a special accomplishment," said Iowa coach Lisa Bluder, who called a timeout for the Hawkeyes to celebrate after Clark crossed the 2,000-point mark on a 3-pointer with 7 minutes, 53 seconds left in the second quarter. "I just felt like this was a game we could burn a timeout and celebrate somebody that really ought to be celebrated."