With the Indiana Fever, rookie phenom Caitlin Clark is no stranger to breaking records. Clark also created even more history on Sunday afternoon, surpassing Julie Allemand’s Indiana Fever rookie record for the most assists in a single season in front of the greatest WNBA audience in Phoenix since the league’s founding in 1997.
During the Fever’s comeback victory over the Phoenix Mercury in the first half, Caitlin Clark set a record with a beautiful pick-and-roll bounce pass to Aliyah Boston, her third assist of the game. Clark’s season assist total of 138, which she reached with 12 assists against the Mercury, puts her on pace to have 276 assists in her first campaign, placing her fifth on the WNBA’s all-time assist list. The three players that recorded the highest single-season assist totals in WNBA history last year were Alyssa Thomas (316), Courtney Vandersloot (314), and Chelsea Gray (291).
Caitlin Clark has undoubtedly received a lot of attention, and rightfully so, due to her scoreable abilities. Her ascent to 3,951 points at Iowa established records for viewership, making her the NCAA’s all-time top scorer and three-point shooter. That Clark is second in women’s collegiate basketball history in terms of overall assists, however, seems to have gone unnoticed. Throughout her four years at Iowa, Clark led the Big Ten in assists and came just twenty-two assists short of breaking the record set by Andrea Nagy for Florida International back in 1995.
Excited to face Diana Taurasi, Mercury, Caitlin Clark and the Fever prevail
For Caitlin Clark, every WNBA game she has played so far is “Must-See-TV,” but Sunday’s game against the Phoenix Mercury was slightly more significant. While a matchup with Diana Taurasi was akin to if LeBron James and Michael Jordan had ever squared off in an NBA game, Clark and Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese could be regarded as the W’s Bird and Magic. The best of one generation versus the best of the following. Remember that before Taurasi introduced Clark to the WNBA, she caused a stir by stating that Clark would not immediately take over the league. Later, she went farther and criticized the “sensitive fans” who were offended by her voicing her thoughts.
However, Caitlin Clark showed she belonged right away on their first meeting.
Merely one rebound away from becoming the first rookie in league history to post a triple-double, Clark finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 12 assists. Along with NaLyssa Smith, who scored 12 points and pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds, the Fever were led by Aliyah Boston (17 points) and Kelsey Mitchell (16 points). With 19 points in the 88-82 defeat, Taurasi—the WNBA’s all-time top scorer—finished. Brittney Griner, a seasoned center, led all scorers with 24 points in her ninth game this season.
During the season, the Fever and Mercury will encounter twice, both times in Indiana. Following the WNBA’s return from its Summer Olympics hiatus on August 16, Phoenix and Indianapolis will square off once more in the Hoosier State on July 12.
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