The information carry on coming for Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark.
Having already damaged the report for many assists in a single recreation and assists by a rookie of their debut season, Clark set the WNBA single-season assists report Friday towards the Las Vegas Aces.
Clark wanted 4 assists to tie the prior report (316), which Connecticut Solar ahead Alyssa Thomas set final season. Clark broke the report within the second quarter when she discovered Kelsey Mitchell, who drained a 3 pointer. Clark completed with 9 assists because the Fever misplaced 78-74 to the Aces, bringing her complete to 321 on the season.
That one other single-season report fell on Friday night time was becoming. On Wednesday night time, when the Fever and Aces matched up for the primary time this week, Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson set a brand new single-season factors mark. Numerous different WNBA information have been reset during the last two seasons because the common season expanded to 40 video games.
“You’re simply going to proceed to see information be taken down, but additionally I feel actually good basketball, and that’s why it’s been so enjoyable to observe,” Clark mentioned postgame when requested in regards to the information damaged within the WNBA this season.
When the WNBA started in 1997, the season was 28 video games lengthy. The following 12 months it was 30 video games, then the 12 months after that, 32, which lasted by way of 2002. The common season had 34 video games from 2003 to 2019. Courtney Vandersloot tallied 300 assists in 2019 and had a report of 258 in 2018, however earlier than these two standout seasons, a participant hadn’t recorded greater than 250 assists since 2000. Ticha Penicheiro, who had the prior single-season rookie help report, recorded 236 assists in 2000.
The second Caitlin Clark broke the WNBA single-season assists report 👏#IONWNBA | @IndianaFever pic.twitter.com/CvddhlLBpG
— WNBA on ION (@IONWNBA) September 14, 2024
Clark has set numerous different information this season. She recorded the primary triple-double for a rookie in WNBA historical past in early July towards the New York Liberty. In late August, she set the rookie 3-point single-season report towards the Atlanta Dream. Clark turned the primary rookie in WNBA historical past to report 400 factors, 100 rebounds and 150 assists in a season, and she or he has recorded essentially the most 15-point 5-assist video games in a season.
She may make extra historical past, too, together with the rookie scoring report for factors in a season, a mark set by Seimone Augustus in 2006 when she scored 744 factors — albeit in 34 video games.
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Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking WNBA season: The historical past she’s made and the marks she’s chasing
As notable as any particular person statistics, Indiana entered Friday night time’s contest having received eight of its final 11 video games, with the most effective offensive ranking of any workforce within the league because the All-Star break. After a 2-9 begin, the Fever have additionally climbed to the No. 6 seed within the playoffs. They’ve already clinched a playoff berth — their first since 2016 — and will end with their first profitable season since 2015, after they made the WNBA Finals.
“It’s positively an enormous second for this place, however on the similar time, I got here in with the expectation this was going to occur,” Clark mentioned of guiding Indiana again to the postseason. “For me, this isn’t a celebration. It’s nice, I really feel prefer it’s an excellent accomplishment, however there’s way more left to be finished.”
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(Photograph: Justin Casterline / NBAE by way of Getty Photographs)