LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Caitlin Clark’s pursuit of the NCAA women’s career scoring record will continue for at least four more days after her 31-point performance in No. 2 Iowa’s 82-79 loss to Nebraska. The generational talent who has brought unprecedented attention to women’s basketball came into the game 39 points from passing Kelsey Plum’s total of 3,527 for Washington from 2013-17. Clark went scoreless the last 12 1/2 minutes against Nebraska and now needs eight points to break the record. She’ll likely will do it Thursday night in Iowa City against Michigan.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Jaz Shelley’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left gave Nebraska its first lead and the Cornhuskers rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat No. 2 Iowa 82-79. Nebraska and Iowa fans alike came to Pinnacle Bank Arena hoping to see Caitlin Clark set the NCAA women’s career scoring record on a nationally televised celebration of women’s basketball. What they got instead was a huge performance by the Cornhuskers, whose first win over a Top 25 opponent this season and it first over Iowa in 10 tries was punctuated by a student-led court storming. Clark scored 31 points but missed her final six shots, including one just before the buzzer. She was scoreless in the fourth quarter.
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Celeste Taylor scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures as No. 5 Ohio State rolled to an 86-71 win over Michigan State on Sunday. Rebeka Mikulasikova added 19, Jacy Sheldon 18 and Taylor Thierry 12 for the Buckeyes (21-3, 12-1 Big Ten), who led by as many as 33 points in the second half. Theryn Hallock had 18 points and Julia Ayrault 10 for Michigan State (17-7, 7-6).
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Patrick McCaffrey and Payton Sandfort each scored 21 points and combined for 26 in the second half to help Iowa beat Minnesota 90-85. Tony Perkins added 12 of his 18 in the second half and Owen Freeman had 17 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for Iowa. Dawson Garcia and Braeden Carrington each scored 18 and Mike Mitchell Jr. added 17 points, including five 3-pointers for Minnesota. Sandfort scored nine points in a 16-0 run, including a layup that gave Iowa its first lead since the opening minutes followed by a 3-pointer that capped the spurt and made it 81-77 with 4 minutes to go. Parker Fox answered with a dunk that made it a two-point game but the Gophers got no closer.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Chloe Moore-McNeil scored 12 of her career-high 22 points in a game-changing third quarter, Mackenize Holmes became Indiana’s all-time leading scorer and the 14th-ranked Indiana went on to defeat Purdue 95-62. Moore-McNeil’s 3-pointer capped an 11-0 run that gave the Hoosiers’ a 55-34 four minutes into the second half. She also had 3-pointers on Indiana’s next two possessions and then converted a three-point play, finishing the quarter 4 for 4 with her team on top 72-46. Holmes got the limelight in the fourth quarter, her layup midway through giving her 2,365 points, one more than Tyra Buss (2014-18). Mary Ashley Stevenson scored 16 points for the Boilermakers.
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Boo Buie scored 15 points, all five Northwestern starters reached double digits in scoring and the Wildcats defeated Penn State 68-63. There were four lead changes and a couple of ties in the first 4 minutes of the second half before a 3-pointer by Buie gave the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish over the final 15 minutes. A 6-1 run got Penn State within 54-53 near the 4-minute mark, but Ryan Langborg buried a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run for the Wildcats. Northwestern finished off the win with seven made free throws in the final 24 seconds. Nick Kern had 18 points and seven rebounds for Penn State and Ace Baldwin Jr. had 17 points.
UNDATED (AP) — Caitlin Clark of Iowa is approaching the NCAA career scoring record in women’s basketball, currently held by Kelsey Plum with 3,527 points. Clark is eight points away from setting the record. The Hawkeyes star has 3,520 points and is averaging 32.1 points this season. She is on pace to break Plum’s NCAA mark when Iowa plays Michigan at home on Thursday.
