Fever win 93-86
Record 18-16
Clark records a triple double
24/10/10
Record 18-16
Clark records a triple double
24/10/10
Fever's Caitlin Clark breaks WNBA's single-season assists mark.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Rookie star Caitlin Clark broke the WNBA single-season assist record Friday night in the Indiana Fever's 78-74 loss to the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces.Clark recorded her 317th assist of the season at the 4:55 mark of the second quarter when Kelsey Mitchell took her pass and scored on a drive. The rookie passed Alyssa Thomas' 316 dimes from last season. She finished the game with nine assists, giving her 321 assists.
Clark's feat came two days after MVP front-runner A'ja Wilson set a record for points scored in a season. Wilson, who scored 15 points Friday night, now has 971, putting her 29 from becoming the first player to reach 1,000 points in a season.
Earlier this summer, Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese set a WNBA single-season record for rebounds (446). Reese's rebounding (13.1) and Wilson's scoring (27.0) averages are both on pace to set league records, and while Clark leads the league with 8.4 assists per game, Courtney Vandersloot's 2020 average of 10.0 assists appears safe to remain the league's single-season record.
"I think it definitely speaks to the whole entire year and how historic it has been for this league and how great the basketball has been for the league and we're not even into the playoffs yet," Clark said. "I think that's what's so fun about it, is you're just going to continue to see records be taken down, but also I think really good basketball, and that's why it's been so fun to watch.
"That's why the fans have been showing up. The viewership has been absolutely crushed this year. So I think everybody's just kind of raising their game. The competition's just getting better and better, and it's fun as a competitor to show up in this league every night and know you have to bring your best, because whoever's on the other side of the court from you, they're going to bring their best, and that's what makes it fun. It's been cool to watch everybody really take a step up and elevate, and to be a part of that has been really fun for myself, too."
According to ESPN Research, Clark has led her team in assists 34 times this season, extending her WNBA record. She has also had at least five assists in 25 straight games, tying Vandersloot in 2021 for the second-longest streak in WNBA history; Vandersloot holds the record with 40 straight across the 2018-19 seasons.
Clark might have added a new accolade to her résumé, but her first half was otherwise quiet. She was held scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting from the field and earned her sixth technical foul when she hit the stanchion in frustration after picking up a foul on defense. If she gets one more before the end of the regular season, she will be suspended for a game.
Clark bounced back with 18 points in the second half. Mitchell finished with a team-high 20, including 19 in the first half.
For the Aces, Wilson finished with 17 rebounds, her WNBA-record 11th 15-15 game of the season. Point guard Chelsea Gray's 21 points marked her second 20-piece this season and first since late June, when she was making her way back from a 2023 foot injury that sidelined her through the beginning of the 2024 campaign.
"I've been feeling like myself after the Olympic break," Gray said. "You want to be playing your best basketball in September and October. ... I just trust the process and I know I put the work in. ... I've got to surrender myself to the result, and that's what I've been doing and it paid off tonight."
Las Vegas led by as many as 13 on Friday, but the Fever pulled to within two with less than two minutes left. A Kelsey Plum 3-pointer with 56 seconds left gave the Aces some breathing room.
Fever players and coach Christie Sides lamented, though, how Indiana finished 11-for-20 from the free throw line and experienced lulls in the first quarter and the start of the third against Las Vegas.
The Aces are the only team the Fever did not beat this season, though Friday's result was the closest game of all four after an 11-point loss Wednesday. Indiana's back-to-back losses were its first since late June.
When we played Vegas early, we weren't there, and they got us," Sides said. "But right now, they've got to really believe that we are there with those guys, and I think they do. And now we just have to find ways to not have those lulls that we're having. ... That was playoff basketball out there tonight, and you've got to make sure that you are not giving them any opportunity to take any advantage of times where you're frustrated or it's just not going our way and we take several possessions off. You just can't do that with these great teams."
Meanwhile, after a stretch of five losses in seven games, Las Vegas is finding its stride with six wins in its past seven games. Its sole loss in that span came to the top-ranked New York Liberty without Wilson (ankle).
"For us, we're just focused on the next game. We play Connecticut [on Sunday], one of the best teams in the league, super tough, and we have a tough remaining schedule," Plum said about looking ahead. "To be honest, we have to focus on what's in front of us, taking one game at a time and whenever we get to the playoffs and we'll lock in then."
Caitlin Clark has career-high 35, sets rookie scoring mark in Fever win.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark recalls Seimone Augustus being the first WNBA player she ever met when she went to a Minnesota Lynx game as a child.On Sunday, Clark set the WNBA rookie season scoring record, previously held by Augustus, and called it a full-circle moment.
I got my picture with her on my dad's little phone -- it was maybe like a Blackberry back in the day," Clark said after Indiana's 110-109 win over Dallas. "I vividly remember it. I was always a fan of her game and the way she could shoot the ball."
Clark now has 761 points in 39 games, so there is the caveat that Augustus -- who will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in October -- set her mark of 744 points in 2006, when the WNBA season was 34 games.
Regardless, it was a big afternoon for Clark, who had a career-high 35 points, and the Fever, who secured the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. Indiana is 20-19 and will finish the regular season Thursday at Washington.
"Everybody is definitely excited for the playoffs," Clark said of the Fever's upcoming postseason trip, their first since 2016. "We're not just happy to be there. We really feel like we can compete with every single team."
The only team Indiana hasn't defeated this season is the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces. The Fever fell twice to the Aces this past week in Indianapolis. But they got back on the winning track Sunday in a game in which both teams' offenses ruled.
Dallas, 9-30 and already eliminated from playoff contention, shot 56.8% from the field and was led by 27 points each from Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally.
Clark and teammate Kelsey Mitchell (30 points) each had 6 3-pointers against the Wings. It was the third time in WNBA history that two teammates hit at least 6 3s in the same game, and the first time since 2010.
"We did a great job of just kind of piggy-backing our games off one another," Mitchell said. "She's young and she likes to play fast, and I can appreciate it. I think our pace can set us up for a lot of different stuff."
Augustus, like Clark, was a No. 1 draft pick. The former LSU star played 14 of her 15 seasons with the Lynx and finished her playing career with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Augustus won four titles with Minnesota and three Olympic gold medals with Team USA. She is now an assistant at her alma mater.
Augustus averaged 21.9 points -- still the rookie record for scoring average -- 1.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds in 2006. But the Lynx struggled to a 10-24 record. They missed the playoffs in Augustus' first five seasons, then made the WNBA Finals in six of her next seven years in Minnesota.
Most Points In A Game -- Fever History
Caitlin Clark set a new WNBA career high with 35 points Sunday against Dallas, a franchise rookie record and the fourth-highest-scoring game in Fever history.
| Year | Player | Points | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Kelsey Mitchell | 38 | Sun |
| 2024 | Kelsey Mitchell | 36 | Wings |
| 2023 | Kelsey Mitchell | 36 | Storm |
| 2024 | Caitlin Clark | 35* | Wings |
| *Franchise rookie record |
Clark, who had eight assists Sunday, now has 329 on the season.
Sunday was Clark's fourth game with at least 30 points and 5 assists, tying Ogunbowale (2019) for most in a rookie season. It was also the ninth game this season in which both Clark and Mitchell had at least 20 points. The Fever are 7-2 in those games.
"Kelsey makes my life easier out there," Clark said. "It's hard to pick and choose when both of us are on. We just really read and understand each other better from where we were in the beginning of the season."
Fever's Caitlin Clark named All-WNBA.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark on Wednesday became the league's first rookie since Candace Parker in 2008 to be named to the All-WNBA first team, while Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx and A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces were unanimous selections.Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty) and Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun) were also first-team selections.
Clark, the league's Rookie of the Year, earned 52 first-team votes and was on 66 of the 67 ballots that were submitted by a national media panel.
She's the fifth rookie ever to have that honor, joining Parker, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi.
She started all 40 regular-season games for the Fever, who went 20-20 and finished sixth in the league. She averaged 19.2 points, a WNBA-best 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 35.4 minutes per game.
Clark also made 122 3-pointers to lead the league and helped the Fever make the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Wilson, the league's unanimous choice as MVP, earned a spot on the first team for the third consecutive season and fourth time overall. Collier, a three-time All-WNBA selection, was voted to the first team for the second straight year.
The All-WNBA second team is made up of Sabrina Ionescu (Liberty), Kahleah Copper (Phoenix Mercury), Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle Storm), Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wngs) and Jonquel Jones (Liberty).
