Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark, by all accounts, has the NCAA scoring record for women’s basketball.
Lynette Woodard, who previously held the mark for the top scorer in major women’s basketball history, acknowledged as much in February, when Clark set the mark, saying, “I don’t think Lynette Woodard would have had this moment without Caitlin Clark, so I’ve gotta give it right back to her.”
But Woodard seemingly changed her stance this weekend.
The former University of Kansas standout, who scored 3,649 points while playing with the Jayhawks from 1977-81, didn’t hold the official NCAA record because women’s basketball competed under the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.
Over the weekend, while speaking at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association convention in Cleveland, the site of the women’s Final Four, Woodard was recorded saying that because the two played under different rules, Clark’s milestone is not the same as Woodard’s.
“I am the hidden figure, but no longer now,” Woodard said in the clip. “My record was hidden from everyone for 43 years. I don’t think… I’ll just go ahead and get the elephant out of the room: I don’t think my record has been broken because you can’t duplicate what you’re not duplicating. So unless you come with a men’s basketball and a 2-point shot.”
Woodard was referencing the fact that while she played, not only did women play with a men’s ball — and not the smaller version that’s used now — but there also was no 3-point shot.
Clark is the greatest shooter in women’s hoops history and her prolific scoring from 3-point range has been one of the keys to her success.
Still, it seems an odd turn of events, especially considering Clark praised Woodard at the time of her record-breaking performance.
“I think it just speaks to the foundation that these players have laid for us,” Clark said then of past stars like Woodard. “To have opportunities, to be able to play in environments like this, in front of crowds like this… I wouldn’t have the opportunity to be able to do what I’m doing every single night if it wasn’t for people like her. There are so many great players across the board. I’m just really thankful and grateful to have those people that have come before me.”
Woodard was also in attendance when Clark broke Pete Maravich’s all-time college basketball scoring record on March 3.
