Rebecca Lobo says Caitlin Clark can never be considered the GOAT of women’s college hoops

Caitlin Clark may be the greatest offensive force in the history of women’s college basketball, but she can never be considered the game’s GOAT, according to Naismith Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo.

In order to be considered the GOAT, a player must win multiple championships, Lobo said, and at this point, Clark can only win a maximum of one.

“For me, she is the best offensive player that I have ever seen, at least in the last 30 years that I have been either playing or calling women’s college basketball,” Lobo, who won an NCAA Championship with UConn in 1995, said Tuesday on ESPN’s “Get Up.”

“When you get into the GOAT conversation, does she need to win a national championship to be considered the GOAT? I don’t think so. I think she needs to win multiple national championships to be in that kind of conversation because when you look at the history of the game, Candace Parker won two championships at Tennessee, Diana Taurasi won three championships at UConn. ... Breanna Stewart won four championships, not only won four championships, she was the Most Outstanding performer in four Final Fours.

“Caitlin is an incredible player. She has done more in terms of bringing attention and eyeballs to the women’s game than any player we have ever seen. That’s a mere fact. But when you want to talk about the GOAT conversation and you add championships to the mix, you have to understand the history of the game.”

On Monday night, Clark, the biggest star in basketball, erupted for 41 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds to lead No. 1 Iowa to a 94-87 victory over defending champion and No 3 LSU in the Elite Eight in Albany, New York. It was her 13th career 40-point game. She accounted for 71% of her team’s offense on Monday between her points and assists.

Clark, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball and the projected No. 1 pick in this month’s WNBA Draft, shot 9-of-20 from beyond the arc, tying the NCAA Tournament record for 3-pointers in a game and becoming the career Division 1 3-point makes leader. She made six in the second half and now has 70 for the tournament, surpassing Taurasi’s mark of 61.

“She’s a generational player, and she just makes everybody around her better,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “That’s what the great ones do.”

Mulkey added that she told Clark, “I sure am glad you’re leaving.’ I said, ‘Girl, you something else. Never seen anything like it.’”

Clark and the Hawkeyes (33-4) will meet Paige Bueckers and No. 1 UConn (33-5) in the national semifinals on Friday night in Cleveland. UConn coach Geno Auriemma recently said Bueckers — who went for 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, in a 80-73 win over Juju Watkins and No. 3 USC on Monday — was “the best player in America.”

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.