Caitlin Clark named Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year following record-breaking season

By Thomas Schlachter, CNN

(CNN) — Iowa Hawkeyes superstar guard Caitlin Clark has been rewarded for her historic season by being named the winner of the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year Award for a second consecutive season.

Clark led Division I in scoring with 32.0 points per game and in assists with 9.0 per contest. In March, she became the NCAA Division-I all-time leading scorer for men’s and women’s basketball, passing Hall of Famer “Pistol” Pete Maravich.

She also set the record this year for most points in a women’s NCAA Division I basketball season.

“I think it’s been a special year for women’s basketball, so to win this award is really special,” Clark said Wednesday.

Clark is the first women’s player to win the honor in back-to-back years since Connecticut’s Breanna Stewart, who won three consecutive awards from 2014 to 2016.

The 22-year-old Clark has also propelled the Hawkeyes to the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season and likely will be the first selection in the WNBA draft in 12 days.

Iowa beat the LSU Tigers 94-87 on Monday in a rematch of last year’s national championship game, with the sequel being the most watched women’s college basketball game ever, according to ESPN.

Clark scored 41 points – including going 9-of-20 from three-point range – to go with 12 assists and seven rebounds.

Clark also spoke Wednesday of the growth of the women’s game during her speech and noted that every year she’s been at the ceremony, the presentation room has grown in size.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club gives the award to the player selected by journalists, current and former coaches, previous winners and conference commissioners as having had the most outstanding season.

In the other categories, Stanford Cardinal player Cameron Brink was awarded the Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year Award and South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley was the winner of the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year Award for the third consecutive year.

Iowa next faces UConn on Friday in the national semifinals.

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