NCAA Scoring Record Setter Caitlin Clark Sparks Conversations On Black Women Overlooked By Official Statistics

High scorers and record setters Lynette Woodard and Pearl Moore are two women the NCAA left behind.

Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA All-Time scoring record on Feb. 15, following a 49-point outburst that set her career high. While the fanfare around Clark’s record-setting achievement has propelled her into conversations about whether her scoring prowess will immediately transfer to the women’s professional game, it is also creating conversations about the women the NCAA left behind.

As NPR reports, Lynette Woodard, who played for the University of Kansas in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and Pearl Moore, who played for Division II Francis Marion College during the late 1970s, both put up more points. Woodard scored 3,649 points, and Moore scored an astounding 4,061 despite neither benefiting from the three-point line. However, since both records were set before the NCAA officially recognized women’s collegiate sports, as an organization spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal, they do not recognize statistics from non-NCAA associations. The spokesperson stated that records from these competitions “are not currently included in NCAA record books, regardless of gender.”

Following her incredible college career, Woodard became a two-time Olympian, winning a gold medal in 1984 as the captain alongside Cheryl Miller, Pamela McGee, and Kim Mulkey. Woodard also became the first woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters and then played basketball professionally overseas, like McGee and Miller’s college teammate, Cynthia Cooper, before eventually joining the WNBA. Woodard told NPR via a written statement that while she celebrated Clark’s record, she also hoped others could have their records honored.

“In honoring Caitlin’s accomplishments, I hope that we can also shine a light on the pioneers who paved the way before her. Women’s basketball has a glorious history that predates the NCAA’s involvement. I applaud Caitlin for everything she has done and look forward to watching her score many more points for years to come,” Woodard wrote.

Moore’s record is more obscure but is perhaps also lifted by a recent NCAA record set by Lauryn Taylor. Taylor, who plays for Francis Marion College, pulled down 44 rebounds on Feb. 15, the same day Clark set her record. Over Moore’s career, she was a four-time Small College All-American who went on to play for two teams, the New York Stars and the St. Louis Streak, which played in a league that was a forerunner to the WNBA, the Women’s Professional Basketball League.

Moore recently said in an interview that she hopes Clark can break both records. “Records were made to be broken. And I’m thinking about, let’s say, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James, and I think it was about 40 years between LeBron’s like 38, and that record last for like 30 years,” Moore said. “And I finished college at 22, and I’m 66 now, so that records like 40 years, so records are made to be broken, and if she does it, good for her.”

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, the coach with the most wins in NCAA history in either the men’s or women’s programs, told The Wall Street Journal that she believes the record belongs to Woodard until it is broken. “I think the overall record by Lynette Woodard is THE RECORD.”

So, for now, the records will all have separate descriptions and qualifiers. Still, the benefit to those conversations is that these forgotten scoring geniuses’ names will keep coming up while Clark’s record is discussed.