WNBA
How did Caitlin Clark make more WNBA history in Indiana Fever’s win over Phoenix Mercury?
In her first appearance after the WNBA break for the 2024 Olympics, Clark inspired the Fever to a ninth win in 14 games.
Caitlin Clark’s time in the WNBA may have got off to a slightly slow start by comparison to what was expected of her, but the no. 1 Draft pick’s period of adaptation is now just a distant memory as she continues to make more history with the Indiana Fever.
The Fever’s miserable start to the season (they lost their first five games and were 3-10 after 13) is also a thing of the past, with Clark’s form helping her team to nine wins in their last 14 match-ups, the most recent of which came against the Phoenix Mercury on Friday.
It was the 22-year-old’s first game in almost a month after she was left off the Team USA roster for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, but she hit the ground running upon the WNBA’s resumption.
Caitlin Clark’s numbers for the Fever vs the Mercury: points, assists, double-doubles...
Clark scored a team-high 29 points in the Fever’s 98-89 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, registering her 10th double-double of the season with 10 assists, along with five rebounds. She is just one double-double away from posting the most of any rookie guard ever, and has 13 games left to beat Courtney Vandersloot’s tally of 11, which has stood since 2011.
It’s only a matter of time before Clark takes that record, but she made history against the Mercury regardless.
How Clark made history against the Mercury
As highlighted by NBA and WNBA stats gurus StatMamba, the former Iowa Hawkeye has become the first rookie in history to register more than 450 points and 200 assists in a season, a fact made all the more remarkable by the fact she still has 13 games to play (although this will be only the second ever 40-game season).
To put Clark’s achievement into further context, she is just the sixth player of any status to have registered those numbers in a single season.
What WNBA records could Clark break next?
With 223 assists to her name, the Fever star will certainly take the all-time rookie record for assists in a season, which has been held by Ticha Penicheiro (225) since 1998. Nobody has produced more assists in a season that the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas (316 in 2023), which may prove difficult to surpass this year but will be one for Clark to target in the future.