“A couple of you? It’s pretty special,” she said. “She’s just obviously an incredible, incredible player. She’s just changed the landscape of women’s basketball, and she’s really tough to stop.”

Needing eight points to pass Kelsey Plum as the NCAA career leader in points scored, Clark did what her coach predicted a day earlier and blew it out of the water. In the first 2:15 of the game Clark had scored all of Iowa’s eight points, concluding with a transition three from the “com” in the Mediacom court logo. The shot had to be close to 40 feet. And when it swished through Clark did a dance down the sideline, and the crowd engulfed her in a roar heard all the way to Swisher.

“I think I kind of stepped back to my left a little bit and was able to get it off, and it went in and I celebrated,” Clark said.

“I don’t know if you could script it any better. We played really well, but our defense could have been a little better. But to do it in this fashion, I’m very grateful. I’m very thankful.”

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder called a timeout to allow everyone to soak in the moment, and then it was on to business. Iowa defeated Michigan, 106-89, to stay even with Indiana in second place in the Big Ten, one game behind Ohio State.

“She’s such a special player, and the University of Iowa is the right place for this to happen,” Bluder said. “It absolutely is. This is a place that has supported basketball, women’s basketball, for such a long time, and anything can happen here.

“They crowd was amazing. The crowd, the energy, the appreciation by our crowd. There’s nothing like Iowa Hawkeye fans, and we know that and we’re thankful for that.”

Clark remained the focal point. She wasn’t through after the first eight points. She scored 23 first-quarter points en route to an Iowa single-game scoring record of 49 points. She passed Megan Gustafson’s 48 points and Hannah Stuelke’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena record of 47.

Clark’s dynamic start to the game took all the suspense away in a hurry.

“Warming up my shot just felt good,” Clark said. “So I knew it was going to be kind of one of those nights, and I kind of played with a little more pep in my step. I knew what this team needed after coming off a loss.”

She played with a ferocity that was at least partially triggered by the loss at Nebraska. Then again when she’s feeling it in warmups, look out.

“She specifically came out on fire,” Barnes-Arico said of Clark. “For us it was kind of like, ‘OK, they’re coming off a loss at Nebraska. She didn’t get the record.’ I mean all the momentum was heading in that direction. We still battled and we still hung around, but we certainly couldn’t get any stops early. She came out on a mission and was on fire.”

Michigan (16-10, 7-7) was a worthy opponent. It was a physical, bruising game, particularly in the lane.  Barnes-Arico was a little non-plussed by all the points the Wolverines gave up. Michigan came into the game with the second-best defensive average in the Big Ten, holding conference teams to 66.8 points per game.

“We do pride ourselves on defense, but they are a potent offensive team, and they are extremely, extremely efficient at home,” Barnes-Arico said.

“I think we were a force tonight,” Bluder said. “Nobody was going to stop us especially coming off the loss.”

Iowa led 53-41 at halftime and outscored the Wolverines 28-19 in the third quarter.

The Hawkeyes shot 53.1 percent overall and 51.4 percent (18-35) from behind the arc. Clark made nine threes, tying her personal best. Kate Martin, who scored 20 points, was 4-of-5 on 3-pointers. Molly Davis and Gabbie Marshall each made two 3-pointers, and Taylor McCabe added one. Stuelke had 13 points.

Iowa had trouble controlling the middle and was outscored in the paint 56-32. Then again when you’re making that many threes it might be a good tradeoff. Michigan made only 3-of-19 3-point shots. Iowa had 26 points off Michigan turnovers.

While Clark was interviewed after the game by television announcers, the crowd starting chanting, “One more year, one more year!”

“I paid them,” Bluder cracked. “I thought it was a pretty good chant.”

A video was shown after the game with members of her family expressing their support and congratulating Clark on the accomplishment. Also included in the video were coaches, teammates and former teammates Monika Czinano and McKenna Warnock. Clark was touched by the presentation.

Bluder took time to mention that Michigan’s team gave Clark a gift to commemorate the occasion and each of their players wrote a note to her.

“I am so glad that we have people in the Big Ten that understand the importance of this and the importance for women’s basketball,” Bluder said. “I just think that was a real classy way for them to handle this, and I appreciate Kim and what she did.”

Iowa (23-3, 12-2) will have a week to recover from the hoopla before heading to a huge game at Indiana next Thursday.