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Even though the Indiana Fever lost their second straight game to the Las Vegas Aces on Friday, Caitlin Clark was able to take pride in being part of a record-breaking year for the WNBA on a night in which she set the single-season assists record.
Clark spoke after the game about being in the record books during the same “historic” season that Aces superstar A’ja Wilson set a new benchmark for points and Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese broke the rebounding record (starts at 15:30 mark).
“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. 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.”
Clark recorded her 317th assist of the season in the second quarter when she connected with Kelsey Mitchell on a drive to the basket.
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Every dime from Caitlin Clark’s record night 🏆<br><br>Witness the passes that crowned a new single-season assist leader! The rook finished with an impressive 18-8-9, despite the loss<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WelcometotheW?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WelcometotheW</a> <a href=”https://t.co/JdN4ycOwDS”>pic.twitter.com/JdN4ycOwDS</a>
The previous record of 316 assists was set by Connecticut Sun star Alyssa Thomas last season.
Wilson broke the single-season points record in Wednesday’s win over the Fever. The MVP frontrunner also on pace to set WNBA record for scoring average in a season (27.0 points per game). Diana Taurasi owns the current record with 25.3 points per game in 2006.
Reese set the WNBA single-season rebound record on Sept. 1 in the Sky’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx. She finished the game with 19 boards, giving her 418 for the season at the time. Sylvia Fowles held the record with 404 rebounds in 2018.
Clark’s 8.4 assists per game leads the league, but with just two games remaining in the regular season, she is unlikely to match Courtney Vandersloot’s record of 9.95 set in 2020.
Wilson and Reese are the only players averaging a double-double this season. Reese’s season came to an early end when she revealed on Sept. 7 a wrist injury would keep her out for the rest of her rookie campaign.
The Aces swept their four-game regular-season series against Clark and the Fever. Both teams have clinched postseason berths with the playoffs set to begin on Sept. 22.
