Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark came out of the WNBA All-Star break on fire this past weekend, immediately making two remarkable pieces of WNBA history.
First, she became the first player to score at least 450 points and record at least 200 assists in a rookie season in the Fever’s victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Friday. Then, in the Fever’s 92-75 win against the Seattle Storm on Sunday, she surpassed Ticha Penicheiro for the WNBA rookie record for most assists in a single season.
Clark broke Penicheiro’s record (225 assists for the Sacramento Monarchs in 1998) in her 28th game, with 12 more games left in the season to continue extending that mark. By comparison, it took Penicheiro 30 games to reach 225 assists.
“Congratulations. A record that stood since 1998, and you come here and you break it,” Penicheiro said. “Super proud of you. I know the work that you put in. A lot of people always talked about your shooting—I was always mesmerized about your passing, your court vision, and how you make your teammates better. So this record is in great hands. Continue to do what you do, continue to elevate your game and the women’s game and the WNBA.”
Clark, the WNBA leader in assists per game (8.3) is well on her way to breaking the all-time single-season assist record, too. The 22-year-old guard would need to average 7.1 assists for the rest of the season to surpass Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas’s record of 316 assists, which Thomas set last year.
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