Eight! More! Points!
From The GIST College Sports (hi@thegistsports.com)
Happy Valentine's Day!
We love you like women’s basketball legend Cheryl Miller and iconic actor Will Ferrell love their alma mater, USC. Thanks for being part of this love letter to women’s sports.
— Nebraska junior pitcher Jordy Bahl revealing yesterday that she suffered a season-ending ACL injury in her Cornhusker debut last Thursday. Bahl, the reigning Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player, transferred to her home state from No. 1 Oklahoma last June, bringing unprecedented hype to the Huskers. Heartbreaking.
Caitlin Clark’s historic chase
🏀 Records are made to be broken
The GIST: Eight. More. Points. Barring absolute disaster, No. 4 Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark will break the NCAA women’s basketball career scoring record in one of the sport’s most in-demand games ever — college or pro — when her Hawkeyes host Michigan tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET. Chills already.
Her impact: This hometown girlie put Iowa basketball on the map when she committed in 2019, and the rest is (literally) history. Clark leads the NCAA with a jaw-dropping 32.1 points per game — and, with her lethal jump shot and offensive vision, the reigning Player of the Year breaks records as often as The Bachelor breaks hearts.
- But the Hawkeye senior’s off-court records are even more impressive: She draws consistently astounding attendance and viewership, and her logo threes and swagger dominate social media, inspiring future hoopers left and right. The “Caitlin Clark Effect” is real.
The context: It’s important to note that Clark’s currently chasing WNBA star Kelsey Plum’s 3,527-point NCAA record: She still has a bunch of buckets to go before passing two pre-NCAA trailblazers: Kansas alum Lynette Woodard leads all Division I women with 3,649 points, and Francis Marion alum Pearl Moore holds the overall collegiate record with a mindblowing 4,061 points.
- As discussed on yesterday’s episode of The GIST of It, these barrier-breaking women helped pave the way for Clark’s impending achievement, and giving them their flowers is crucial to celebrating Clark’s NCAA record-breaking bucket.
Men’s basketball
🏀 Where’s Larry Bird when you need him?
The GIST: With football finally out of the way, basketball fully took center stage this week — and the NCAA men’s courts had plenty of chaos to fill the gridiron gap.
No. 6 Kansas’ historic ass-kicking: Mondays are always hard, but this one was especially brutal for the Jayhawks, who were eviscerated 79–50 by Texas Tech — their worst loss to an unranked team since 1950. The Jayhawks were without injured Big 12–leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr. and, after he was ejected for the first time in 21 years, head coach Bill Self. Pain.
- The key to the Red Raiders’ victory? Guard Darrion Williams, who posted a 30-point double-double while shooting a perfect 12-for-12 from the field. Too hot, hot damn.
Syracuse downs No. 7 UNC: Despite double-doubles from UNC forwards Harrison Ingram and Armando Bacot, sloppy turnovers and fouls allowed Syracuse to outrun the Tar Heels 86–79 last night. Three losses in six games, all to unranked teams? That’s no fluke. It’s not not time for Carolina to panic…
Top-25 newcomers put on ice: Just one day after making Monday’s Top 25, No. 21 Virginia, No. 23 Indiana State, and No. 25 Oklahoma took losses to Pitt, Illinois State, and No. 12 Baylor, respectively. It’s an especially tough break for Indiana State, who’s ranked for the first time since 1979 — when NBA legend Larry Bird was a Sycamore. What comes up…must come down.
Tonight’s SEC showdown: No. 11 South Carolina’s seven-game win streak includes signature wins over then–No. 6 Kentucky and then–No. 5 Tennessee. That kind of momentum is tough to sustain in this upset-riddled season, and No. 13 Auburn won’t go quietly, especially on their home court in the 8:30 p.m. ET matchup on ESPN.
🎾 Women’s tennis
On Monday, No. 3–seed Oklahoma State put the college tennis world on notice by beating No. 4–seed Michigan 4–3 to seal their first-ever ITA Indoor Championship. But there’s no rest for the winners: The Cowgirls’ NCAA outdoor season starts this Saturday against No. 24 Arizona State, so catch up on the sport’s ins and outs before the records reset to love-love.
🏒 Men’s ice hockey
The Northeastern Huskies declared themselves the true DunKings on Monday: Thanks to forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine’s overtime game-winning goal, they upset No. 3 Boston University 4–3 to win their fifth Beanpot in six years — sweeping the prestigious Boston tourney’s 2024 men’s and women’s titles in the process.
🥎 Softball
The Top 25 experienced quite the Monday shakeup after opening weekend play, with preseason–No. 3 Stanford sliding hard to No. 9. But the Cardinal could turn things around at the always-stacked Clearwater Invitational: The regular season’s biggest tourney starts tomorrow with 10 ranked teams on deck. Stanford’s first challenge? Tomorrow’s 4 p.m. ET battle with No. 5 Florida State on ESPNU.
Here’s what has GIST HQ buzzing:
💗 Who’s stealing hearts
Joe Montana. The 4x Super Bowl champ and NFL quarterback legend used to call his wife mid-games just to tell her that he loved her. If he wanted to, he would.
🎨 Who to check out
Drake Cereal. The independent art brand, created by Sloan Brown, draws inspiration from basketball, typography, and sports subculture. Needless to say, it’s great.
📕 What to read
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman. Read along with The GIST on Fable and subscribe to The GIST Book Club’s newsletters to stay updated on all things Book Club.
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