Caitlin Clark shatters NCAA women’s scoring record; Tiger Woods up and down in return

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🐐 Good morning to everyone but especially …

CAITLIN CLARK

There was something special coming. I knew it. You knew it. The sold-out crowd inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena knew it. Michigan knew it — and still had no chance to stop it.

Like she’s done with even the highest of expectations, Caitlin Clark didn’t just break the women’s NCAA career scoring record Thursday; she shattered it. No. 4 Iowa‘s superstar poured in a program-record 49 points in a 106-89 victory to zoom past Kelsey Plum‘s mark.

Clark, always one to put on a show, entered the night eight points shy of Plum’s 3,527. It took her two minutes and 12 seconds to get there, as she scored the team’s first eight points.

Fittingly, the record-breaker came on a 3-pointer from near the logo. It’s that sort of shooting that has changed the sport forever, similar to another record-breaker, writes Jack Maloney.

• Maloney: “As of Feb. 13, Clark was 72-of-180 (40%) from 25-30 feet this season, per CBB Analytics. If you only counted those long-range efforts, she would be tied for 17th in the country in attempts and tied for 39th in percentage. To find a true comparison for her ability to shoot from distance, you have to look to the NBA. But even there, only a few players can rival Clark for volume and efficiency. Of the three stars taking as many attempts from 25-plus feet as Clark, only Steph Curry is shooting a higher percentage.”

Clark, of course, is far more than a great shooter or scorer. She is an offensive inferno. A master of the craft. A singular force. Her name is at or near the top of all sorts of records. She has changed basketball for good … forever. Look at who took to social media to celebrate the accomplishment.

Even her opponents speak glowingly — even admiringly — of her, as Isabel Gonzalez learned in this wonderful feature.

The next record for Clark to chase down is most career points, men’s or women’s, in Division I history: 3,667 by Pete Maravich. Clark is sitting at 3,569 and trails that historic mark by only 98 points. I can’t wait to see what she does to break that one, because if Thursday was any indication, it’ll be unforgettable.

👍 Honorable mentions

⚽ And not such a good morning for …

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN

The day finally arrived. Superstar Kylian Mbappe told PSG he’s leaving the club this summer, when his contract expires.

The departure was a long one coming. Mbappe, 25, had a verbal agreement to join Real Madrid in 2022 before reneging and extending his contract with Les Parisiens. With the 2024 Olympics and Euro 2024 looming this summer, one of the world’s greatest players will likely be on the move.

Where will he go? There’s a clear No. 1, writes Pardeep Cattry.

• Cattry: “Whether or not Mbappe will end up at Real Madrid will most likely come down to contract negotiations rather than anything intangible outside of that, but the club have won the vibes battle in the public sphere. Real Madrid have always been good at positioning themselves as a super club and so landing the game’s biggest superstar is something they have always argued just feels right. … Los Blancos appear more eager than any other club to create a superteam.”

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏌 Tiger Woods shoots 1-over 72 in PGA Tour return

Tiger Woods‘ first PGA Tour outing in 10 months featured moments of brilliance, signs of rust and, ultimately, ended up about how we should have expected. The 15-time major winner made five birdies and six bogeys en route to a 1-over 72 in the opening round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles. He’s tied for 49th on the leaderboard, eight strokes behind first-round leader Patrick Cantlay.

Woods played the par 3s and par 5s in 5-under. He played the Par 4s in 6-over. A complete shank (the worst word golfers can hear) on 18 followed by a miraculous recovery was kind of the day in a nutshell. Today, Kyle Porter will be paying attention to the big stick.

• Porter: “It will be interesting to see whether Woods completely corrects the right miss he found Thursday off the tee. Most came early in the round — he missed 3 of 14 fairways in the right rough, which was a little worse than the median. He did seem to fix this by the time his round wrapped Thursday.”

Woods has to be in either the top 50 or within 10 shots of the leader to make the cut, so he has some work to do. Here’s our full Round 1 recap as well as second-round tee times.

⚾ Rob Manfred to step down in 2029

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters he will step down from his post when his current term ends in 2029.

Manfred, 65, has been commissioner since 2015 when he replaced Bud Selig. It hasn’t exactly been a smooth ride, though some of the reasons have been out of his control.

Manfred is currently dealing with the Athletics‘ relocation, which has turned into an adventure, and he has plenty more to deal with, Dayn Perry notes.

• Perry: “Before Manfred’s final term is up, he must contend with pressing issues such as the future of streaming and the possibility of a direct-to-consumer platform, possible expansion from 30 to 32 teams, and negotiation of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement leading up to the expiration of the current CBA in 2026.”

🏀 How Cavaliers turned things around

NBA All-Star Weekend is upon us, and few teams — if any — will go into the break feeling better about themselves than the Cavaliers. Cleveland has won 18 of its last 20 games to surge to 36-17 on the season, second in the Eastern Conference.

It wasn’t always this way. Last year, the Cavaliers got stuck in the mud in the playoffs against the Knicks, raising real questions about the team’s core. Then they started this year 13-12, and Darius Garland and Evan Mobley got hurt, raising even more questions — like if Donovan Mitchell should be traded.

But when things looked their most dire, the Cavaliers found an identity. James Herbert has the inside story.

• Herbert: “Since the beginning of training camp, coach J.B. Bickerstaff had been trying to turn Cleveland into a more unpredictable team. He wanted the Cavs to get into their offense faster, flow from one action to the next and make the most of the shooting the front office had added in the offseason: More motion, more reads, more 3s. It never fully clicked, though, until they were forced to play that way. … ‘We had to find a way to win without, what, three, four of our starters,’ Jarrett Allen said. ‘And we just found a way that worked. And that continued to work.'”

This was an awesome story with awesome quotes. If you’re missing the NBA over the next few days, I highly suggest you read it.

📺 What we’re watching this weekend

Friday

🏀 New Mexico at San Diego State (M), 10 p.m. on FS1

Saturday

🏀 Texas A&M at No. 16 Alabama (M), noon on ESPN
🏒 Kings at Bruins, 12:30 p.m. on ABC
🏀 Texas at No. 3 Houston (M), 1 p.m. on CBS
🏀 Virginia Tech at No. 7 North Carolina (M), 2 p.m. on ACC Network
🏀 No. 9 Duke at Florida State (M), 2 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 4 Marquette at No. 1 UConn (M), 3 p.m. on Fox
🏒 Oilers at Stars, 3 p.m. on ABC
🏀 No. 6 Kansas at No. 25 Oklahoma (M), 4 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Iowa State at No. 5 Texas (W), 4 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 No. 22 Kentucky at No. 13 Auburn (M), 6 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 NBA All-Star Saturday Night, 8 p.m. on TNT (details here)
🏒 Flyers at Devils, 8 p.m. on ABC

Sunday

🏀 No. 2 Purdue at Ohio State (M), 1 p.m. on CBS
🏀 No. 12 Virginia Tech at No. 19 Louisville (W), 2 p.m. on ESPN
🏎 Daytona 500, 2:30 p.m. on Fox
🏒 Rangers at Islanders, 3 p.m. on ABC
🏀 NBA All-Star Game, 8 p.m. on TNT