Clark started the regional final on a tear.

It seems like every time Caitlin Clark has stepped on a basketball court in 2024, she has been on the verge of making history and setting a new mark for excellence.

Clark this season has broken longstanding career scoring records, but on Monday night, she passed one of the greatest players in the sport for NCAA Tournament sharpshooting.

Clark needed only 18 seconds to drill a three-pointer against the LSU Tigers in Monday’s regional final to break Diana Taurasi’s record of 61 tournament three-pointers.

Taurasi’s record stood for two decades — but like milestones that once belonged to Kelsey Plum, Lynette Woodard, and Pete Maravich, the mark now belongs to Clark, part of her fiery start in the rematch of last season’s national championship game.

Clark didn’t take long to heat up

Iowa scored the first points of Monday’s game, with Clark letting fly from deep inside the opening 20 seconds to break the deadlock and pass Taurasi — the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, and the only player in the W’s history to score at least 10,000 points.

Before winning three championships with the Phoenix Mercury, Taurasi led the University of Connecticut to three consecutive NCAA championships between 2002 and 2004.

The Huskies won 139 of 147 games while Taurasi played there, and the Mercury selected her #1 overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft.

Clark this season broke multiple scoring records in her final collegiate campaign.

She is now the NCAA’s all-time top scorer, men’s or women’s — but for many, her legacy will not be complete without a championship, even as she took down a long-held mark from a three-time NCAA champion.

In all, Clark scored 11 points and provided three assists in the first 10 minutes against LSU.

However, two bad passes late in the first quarter from Clark led to four easy points for the Tigers, part of a 10-0 run for the defending champions that saw them take a 31-26 lead entering quarter number two.