ST. LOUIS — While University of Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark sets the basketball world on fire with her record-setting scoring in NCAA's Division I, Grace Beyer is doing the same, just without all the fanfare.
Beyer, a senior at the small University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, has now become the all-time leading scorer in women's college basketball history since the formation of the NCAA and NAIA.
Beyer clinched the record with her 3,858th point on Saturday against Hannibal La-Grange. (The only player with more points in women's college basketball history is Pearl Moore, who scored 4,061 points for Francis Marion in the AIAW from 1975-1979.)
She’s averaging more than 34 points a game and sees everything from opposing coaches on a given night.
"I’ll come off ball screens, sometimes I get trapped, sometimes they drop two or three people into the lane, sometimes they full court press me, it’s just something I have to adjust to and adapt to quickly," Beyer said in an interview earlier this season.. “It’s exciting. It’s kind of like a puzzle. You have to find out their weaknesses. I just always have to find out what their defense is lacking in and that’s something I need to expose.”
And oh yeah, she’s also becoming a pharmacist.
“Pharmacy school is no small feat. I’m in class three hours at a time, multiple hours a day, I constantly have to study. But it’s just another goal that I set out to accomplish. I want to be a pharmacist and it’s just time management. I’ve learned how to balance school and basketball and get the most out of both," Beyer said.
The record is surreal for the senior guard.
“It’s something you can’t even dream of accomplishing. It’s definitely in the back of my head but I just want to do everything possible to help my team win," Beyer said.
And Beyer's story is just another highlight in the current rise in popularity for women's basketball.
“Women’s basketball has usually been on the backburner to men’s basketball and it’s been exciting to get the recognition that women’s sports deserves," Beyer said. "Caitlin Clark has elevated the women’s basketball game and kind of put it on the forefront of college basketball. And it’s exciting for future women’s college athletes and it’s just a good time to be a part of women’s college basketball.”