It may not have been the outcome she was hoping for, but Caitlin Clark once again re-wrote the history books in her team’s 101-93 loss to the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night.
Clark dished out a WNBA record 19 assists in her team’s defeat, breaking the previous single game record of 18 held by Courtney Vandersloot. The former number 1 overall pick also added 24 points on 10 for 19 shooting as the league now takes a month long Olympic break through to August.
Clark’s efforts resulted in her scoring or assisting on 66 points for the Fever to set a new WNBA record in the process as well. The previous high water mark of 65, set by Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, had stood since August 10th, 2006.
In breaking that mark, the former Iowa standout joined Candace Parker as only the 2nd rookie in league history to score or assist on 50 or more points in multiple games.
In typical fashion, Clark downplayed the significance of the moment in her post game presser, choosing instead to focus on the team’s failure to secure a victory instead. However teammate Aliyah Boston was quick to hop in and give Clark her rightful praise.
“She’s going to say it means nothing, but I think it’s pretty cool,” Boston told reporters. The 2nd year player finished with a career-high 28 points on Wednesday night, while adding 8 rebounds and 3 assists of her own in the process.
Through the first 26 games of her professional career, Clark has now set: the single game WNBA assist record, the Fever single season franchise assist record (213), is the first WNBA rookie to record a triple-double, and the only player in league history to record a 20+ point, 15+ assist, 5+ rebound game. Needless to say, the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer has adjusted well to her first taste of WNBA action so far.
Clark now sits only 12 assists behind Ticha Penicheiro’s WNBA rookie record (225), and could break the mark outright with a strong performance in her team’s game vs. Phoenix on August 16th.
Up next for the 22 year old is the WNBA All-Star game which takes place on Saturday, July 20th at 8:30pm ET.
Photo: John Mac. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.