What’s the WNBA record for points scored in a single game by a rookie? And in a whole season?

Caitlin Clark, who is poised to make her home preseason debut for the Indiana Fever today, enjoyed a positive first taste of life in the WNBA last week. In her maiden appearance for the Fever, a 79-76 defeat to the Dallas Wings in Indiana’s opening warm-up game on Friday, Clark posted 21 points for her new team - a franchise record for a rookie preseason debut.

“My biggest goal coming into tonight was to continue to be myself, play aggressive,” Clark said post-game. “I thought that’s what I did. I think there’s a lot to be proud of.”

The 22-year-old, whom the Fever selected as the first overall pick in April’s WNBA Draft, now faces the Atlanta Dream in her maiden run-out at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where tip-off is scheduled for 7pm ET/4pm PT.

Clark is then set for her WNBA regular-season debut against the Connecticut Sun next week, as the Fever begin their bid to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Can Clark continue historic feats in pro basketball?

Clark set numerous records during her glittering college career; most notably, she boasts the highest career points total across men’s and women’s Division I basketball. The point guard dominated the NCAA from the get-go, finishing as the top points scorer in her freshman season for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Now, ahead of Clark’s regular-season bow for the Fever, the question is: will she also take the professional game by storm in her rookie season in the WNBA?

Single-game scoring records by WNBA rookies

If, against Connecticut, Clark wants to beat the points record for a player in her debut game in the WNBA, she will need to better the regular-season bow enjoyed by league legend Candace Parker, who went on to become a three-time champion and two-time league MVP.

In her first appearance in the WNBA, Parker scored 34 points for the Los Angeles Sparks, breaking a record that Houston Comets great Cynthia Cooper had held since racking up 25 points in her WNBA debut in June 1997.

Parker may have surpassed Cooper’s debut points-scoring feat, but the latter remains the WNBA’s highest scorer in a single game in a player’s first season in the league. In July 1997, the four-time champion and two-time MVP registered 44 points for the Comets in a regular-season game against the Sacramento Monarchs.

Whole-season scoring record by WNBA rookie

Across an entire season, meanwhile, the highest points tally by an WNBA rookie belongs to Seimone Augustus, who scored 744 points for the Minnesota Lynx in 2006, on her way to securing that campaign’s Rookie of the Year award. Augustus’ debut-season haul also gives the four-time WNBA winner the best per-game points average in a rookie season (21.9).

When is Clark due to make WNBA regular-season debut?

The Indiana Fever, who last won the WNBA championship back in 2012, visit the Connecticut Sun in their 2024 regular-season opener on Tuesday 14 May 2024. Tip-off at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, is scheduled for 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT. Viewers in the United States will be able to watch the game on ESPN2 and ESPN+.