The women’s scoring record belongs to Pearl Moore. It seems unlikely that Iowa’s Caitlin Clark will reach that goal this year.

FLORENCE, S.C. — Long before Iowa star Caitlin Clark made her first long-range 3-pointer or signed her first autograph, Pearl Moore set a scoring standard in women’s basketball that has remained unchanged for 45 years.

The soft-spoken South Carolina native led her team at Francis Marion to the postseason four years in a row, averaging over 30 points each season. The 1.80 tall guard scored 60 points in a game.

She did all of this, in many ways, under the radar, playing at a small school from 1975-79, when the Association of Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics (AIAW) controlled the sport. Her career point total (a staggering 4,061) still remains the overall record in women’s basketball and is unlikely to drop this season even if Clark and the Hawkeyes make another deep NCAA Tournament run.

Moore, 66, is now retired and living in his hometown of Florence, about a 90-minute drive from Columbia and home of the top-tier South Carolina program that many believe will win the national championship this season. Iowa, which lost in the championship game last season, is also among the favorites.

Moore will watch. He enjoyed following Clark’s run at the NCAA scoring record, admiring his ability as well as his composure to handle the demands of packed arenas and constant attention.

“He can lead his team, pass the ball and score goals,” Moore said. “These are the three key ingredients to being a great player.”

Moore’s journey to becoming women’s football’s top scorer began at a time when women were generally not encouraged to play sports. But as part of a family of 11 children, there was always a game to attend, and she gravitated toward basketball because “there was something about the way the ball went through the hoop,” she said.

And he could do this in groups.

“I wanted to win, and to do that you had to score points, so I scored points,” Moore said during a courtside interview at the Pearl Moore Center in Florence.

Moore recalls receiving only a few inquiries about playing college ball from schools in the AIAW, which once had more than 1,000 member schools.

He began his college career at Anderson Junior College, where he scored 177 points in eight games. Always the homebody, Moore returned to the Florence area to play for Francis Marion, which is now part of NCAA Division II. Women’s basketball in those days was largely the purview of the AIAW and existed until 1982, but Francis Marion was among the smaller schools in every respect.

Moore played for Sylvia Hatchell, who won the NCAA championship with North Carolina. Hatchell would be amazed by Moore’s shooting ability. Hatchell said Moore often waited for the defender to get close enough to make contact before taking a shot, and then walked away from the play with extra foul shots.

“He always said that,” Moore agreed. “But I knew we had to get as many points as we could.”

After college, Moore played for New York and St. Louis of the former Women’s Professional Basketball League. He played professionally for St. Louis teams. He won a division title with the New York Stars in his rookie season and played sparsely attended games at Madison Square Garden’s Felt Forum.

Following the WPBL’s closure, Moore played a season overseas in Venezuela and also won that league’s championship. He didn’t understand much of the language other than its main purpose.

“They kept yelling ‘Lonza,'” Moore recalled, which meant “ready for battle,” which he interpreted as continuing to fire.

After that season in 1982, Moore wanted to return to his hometown, where he would run youth basketball camps and work for the Postal Service. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 10 years later, hosted by Hatchell.

While Moore holds the overall record, former Kansas star Lynette Woodard holds the women’s major college basketball record with 3,649 points from 1978-81. Kelsey Plum set the women’s NCAA record after her four-year career at Washington (2013-17), and that total will be the record Clark will surpass this week to move closer to Woodard and Moore.

South Carolina assistant coach Jolette Law grew up in Florence and played at the same high school as Moore, Wilson High. Law remembers how hard Moore played and how nearly untenable she was against both men and women.

Moore coached Law in youth clinics and high school practices and helped recruit him to Iowa under C. Vivian Stringer. Law considers Moore a mentor and inspiration.

“It was very special to have someone like that to help me learn the game,” said Law, who was honored by his hometown when the court at the Pearl Moore Center was named after him.

Moore dismissed the idea of ​​where he might line up in today’s game. Francis Marion’s longtime director of media relations and marketing confirmed that most of his shots went beyond the 22-foot, 1 3/4-inch 3-point line distance.

“I’m not the only one who has an impact,” he said. “Players like Lynette Woodard and Carol Blazejowski would also have bigger totals because of the way we played.”

Blazejowski played at Montclair State in the mid-70s and finished with 3,199 points.

Moore said he was grateful for his accomplishments, pleased with his position in the game and happy for Clark.

“Tell the (TV) analysts to make sure they say that right,” he joked of the NCAA scoring record.