Women’s college basketball: How Caitlin Clark rewrote the rules

(CNN) — Caitlin Clark stands alone on the Iowa Hawkeyes’ home floor, with 15,000 fans transfixed by the moment — and more than three million viewers watching on television. She drains a free throw. Effortless. Then another. The home crowd erupts. These routine points last month surpassed the all-time college basketball scoring record, for both men and women, launching Clark into the pantheon of the sport. It’s been a season for the ages for Clark, 22, whose talent has fueled a boom in interest in the women’s game as March Madness got underway last month. NBA star Steph Curry called her record-breaking performance “must-see TV” in an interview with CBS last month. Viewers apparently agree. This year, college women’s basketball has had one of its best regular seasons in history, with regular season games averaging 476,000 viewers on& ESPN platforms, where it has seen a 37% viewership increase. The audience for women’s college basketball has increased by more than 60% across all national networks, and more than 48% on games shown by the network, where it is averaging a bigger audience than its men’s counterpart, according to Michael Mulvihill, president of insight and analytics at Fox Sports. Clark – a...