Caitlin Clark. Angel Reese. Paige Bueckers. Cameron Brink. Flaujae Johnson. Juju Watkins.
Do these names sound familiar? If you’re thinking about Caitlin Clark’s record for being the highest scoring NCAA D1 athlete for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs, you’d be on the right track. And remember Angel Reese and Flaujae Johnson bringing home the NCAA women’s tournament trophey in 2023 for the first time in program history? Between 2023 and 2024, we have seen countless record be broken in college basketball. More specifically, women’s college basketball.
This year, Caitlin Clark broke the record for all time NCAA leading scorer with 3,951 points at the end of her college career. That is 284 points ahead of the men’s leading scorer Pete Maravich an 424 ahead of the previous women’s scoring leader Kelsey Plum. She also holds the record for most 3 pointers achieved in a single women’s D1 basketball season, tied for most 3s in a game in D1 history, became the first D1 woman to score 1,000 points in two different seasons, became the both Iowa’s and the Big 10 all-time assist leader, and so much more. People have lined up for hours just to get a glimpse of Clark in action. And the best part? Seeing all the young children who are so interested in watching Clark, both boys and girls. There is no denying the impact Clark has had on not just women’s basketball, but basketball as a whole.
March Madness 2024 has been a tournament for the books, especially the women’s tournament. The impact of women’s basketball has had unimaginable growth this year. This year, the average viewership for women’s games was 6.5 million, the most on record. And the highly anticipated Iowa vs. LSU rematch had 12 million viewers, surpassing baseball’s world series and the NBA championship. 18.7 million people watched the championship game, featuring Iowa vs South Carolina, becoming the most-watched college basketball game in ESPN history for both men’s and women’s games. Following that momentum, the WNBA draft had 2.45 million viewers. That’s four times the usual amount of viewers. On top of that, tickets for the draft event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York sold out in just 15 minutes. After the draft, jerseys for Caitlin Clark’s new team, the Indiana Fever, sold out on Fanatics. Ticket sales for WNBA games have gone from an average of $47 per ticket to almost $165.
Women’s basketball has taken the world by a storm. Popularity has increased beyond what anyone thought it would. No one can deny the incredible impact players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and others have had in the game along side coaches like Dawn Staley, Lisa Blunder, and Geno Auriemma. Female atheletes around the country and internationally are finally getting the recognition for the hard work they have put into their sport. With the new growth of women’s basketball, the question now is: how long will this popularity last? The foundations that these atheletes have put down are paving the way for even more growth in the sport, and it is up to the next generations of fans, coaches, and players to make sure that women’s basketball continues to get the recongition it deserves.
“Yeah / ‘Cause girls is players too, uh” – Players by Coi Leray
