Caitlin Clark’s 19 Assists Among Many WNBA Records Set by Indiana Fever Rookie

Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever shoots a free throw against the Las Vegas Aces in the first quarter of their game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 2, 2024. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

In the final WNBA game before a month-long break due to the All-Star break and, subsequently, the Paris Olympics, Caitlin Clark provided a historic performance on July 17. The Indiana Fever rookie broke the 28-year league’s single-game assists record by dropping 19 dimes in a 101-93 loss to the Dallas Wings.

That broke the previous mark of 18 by Courtney Vandersloot in 2020 and later tied by her in a 2021 playoff game. Clark also added 24 points in the defeat, which is the fourth-most points in her young career, to go along with six rebounds and seven turnovers. Clark’s points total was second on the team to Aliyah Boston’s 28, and most of the latter’s scoring came from passes from Clark. Eleven of her 19 assists ended up in the hands of Boston as the last two No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA Draft have displayed great chemistry.

Clark, who enters the WNBA All-Star break leading the league in both assists per game (8.2) and total assists (213), started the first quarter of the game with four assists and never dropped below that in any ensuing quarter. She also had four helpers in the second quarter before then upping that to five dimes in the third quarter. She then saved her best for last, handing out six assists in the final frame as she accounted for as many assists in the second half (11) as Dallas’ entire team combined.

In a post-game media session featuring both Clark and Boston, Clark was asked what setting the assists record means to her. Before she could respond, Boston jumped in, saying, “She’s gonna say it means nothing, but I think it’s pretty cool. I think that’s pretty cool, so, sorry.” Clark then responded and said she may actually pass the ball too often at times instead of looking for her own shot.

“I just try to set my teammates up for success,” stated Clark. “I think at times, I can almost overpass and there probably could have been a few times where instead of passing that leads to turnovers, I could probably shoot the ball. But especially with AB (Boston), I’m looking to set her up so much. My eyes are always on our post players, whether that’s NaLyssa [Smith] or whether that’s AB or whoever’s in the game at the time, then I kind of look out from there.”

Even with the record-breaking performance, Clark thinks the Fever left some points on the board as she could have had even more assists had the team been able to be nearly as efficient outside of the arc as it was inside of the paint.

“We still didn’t shoot it very good from three, and I thought we finished really well around the paint,” said Clark. “I’m sure our points in the paint were pretty good, 62 points in the paint, so yeah.”

The assists mark wasn’t the only record Clark set on a truly monumental night. She scored or assisted on 66 points for the Fever, which also set a league record and broke Diana Taurasi’s mark of 65 in a game back in 2006.

Additionally, Clark surpassed 200 assists for the season in Wednesday’s game, in addition to reaching 400 points for the season in a contest last week. Thus, she has reached 400 points and 200 assists in just 26 games, which is the fewest games needed in WNBA history. This surpasses Sue Bird’s previous record of 33 games, which she needed her first two WNBA seasons to complete.

Clark is now just 13 assists shy of passing Ticha Penicheiro’s rookie record of assists in a single season (225). Penicheiro set that mark in the WNBA’s inaugural season of 1998 with the Sacramento Monarchs, but she ended her career in 2012 with the Chicago Sky, where current fever head coach Christie Sides was an assistant coach on at that time.

When Sides was asked about Clark’s record-setting night in the post-game press conference, she indicated that this was just the beginning, as Clark’s Fever teammates were still adjusting to playing with the rookie.

“[Clark] has the ability and her vision to see things, and we’re just getting better and better as we play with her to be on the same page with her,” said Sides. “… 19 assists is incredible. That’s incredible.”

As Clark’s teammates are getting more comfortable playing with her, the rookie herself is clearly getting more comfortable in the WNBA. Through her first 13 games, she averaged 16.3 points on 37.3 percent shooting, with 6.0 assists as Indiana went just 3-10. But over her last 13 games, Clark has put up 17.9 points on 43.4 percent shooting, with 10.4 assists as the team has gone 8-5.

The Fever enter this extended break with an 11-15 record, good enough for seventh-best in the WNBA. The top eight teams, regardless of conference, qualify for the WNBA playoffs, and if their standing holds throughout the end of the season, then Indiana would be a playoff team for the first time since 2016.

Indiana won’t hold its next game until after the Olympics on Aug. 16, but fans will still get to see Clark at the WNBA All-Star Game on July 20 as she'll be a part of Team WNBA as they take on the USA Basketball Women’s Olympics Team.