Women’s basketball legend Lynette Woodard recently declared that Caitlin Clark hasn’t actually broken her scoring record because of two overlooked factors.
The Hall of Famer played for Kansas in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) from 1977-81, scoring 3,649 points. However, she was a bit of an unknown figure as the NCAA did not recognize her record, having taken control of women’s college basketball during the 1981-82 season.
Clark passed Woodard two weeks after surpassing Kelsey Plum’s 5,527 points with a 49-point performance against Michigan in mid-February. She would move past Pete Maravich’s 3,667 in Iowa’s regular-season finale against Ohio State.
Her college total reached 3,951 in Sunday’s loss to South Carolina.
Woodward was in attendance when Clark broke the record against the Buckeyes but she doesn’t feel like Clark’s record is on par with hers given that she played with a men’s-sized basketball and there was no three-point line (that was established in 1987).
Women’s basketballs were also made smaller in 1984.
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“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,” she said at a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association convention on Saturday. “Unless you come with a men’s basketball and a 2-point shot, hey, you know.“
Lynette Woodward Clarified Her Comments On Social Media
Lynette Woodward is correct in claiming that her record cannot be duplicated because of the factors she brought up.
But she’s since taken to social media to clarify her comments and reiterate that she’s a huge fan of Caitlin’s.
“My message was: a lot has changed, on and off the court, which makes it difficult to compare statistical accomplishments from different eras,” she wrote. “Each is a snapshot in time.
“Caitlin holds the scoring record. I salute her and will be cheering for her throughout the rest of her career.”
Woodard was a four-time All-American at Kansas who was awarded the Wade Trophy in 1981. She captained the gold medal-winning Olympic team in 1984 and, the following year, became the first woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters before heading overseas to play.
The 64-year-old played in the WNBA for two years, including its inaugural campaign in 1997, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
