Caitlin Clark’s record-setting game draws top women’s basketball regular-season TV rating since 1999

By The Associated Press

Caitlin Clark’s record-setting game for Iowa against Ohio State on Sunday attracted more than 4 million television viewers at its peak and was the most watched women’s regular-season basketball game since 1999, Fox Sports announced Tuesday.

Clark scored 35 points and passed Pete Maravich as the NCAA Division I overall career scoring leader during the Hawkeyes’ 93-83 win.

Average viewership was 3.39 million and reached a high of 4.42 million late in the second half. Clark set the record with two free throws just before halftime. No women’s regular-season game on any network had more viewers since 3.88 million tuned in for UConn-Tennessee in January 1999, according to Sports Media Watch.

The game was the second-most watched college basketball game of the season, trailing only the 5.18 million who saw the Michigan State-Arizona men’s game that followed an NFL Thanksgiving game on Fox, SMW said.

Ohio State-Iowa surpassed the 3.01 million who watched the Boston Celtics’ 140-88 rout of the Golden State Warriors on ABC on Sunday.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball