Many have remarked that it seems like every time Caitlin Clark plays a basketball game, she sets a new rookie record. Well, it seems like that because it’s basically true.
On Sunday, Clark reminded the U.S. Women’s Basketball selection committee of their extreme error in not choosing her to be on Team USA by dropping 23 points on the Seattle Storm. The 92-75 victory gave Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever an important leg-up in the playoff-seeding race. And from a historical perspective, it became her 225th assist of the season, thus snapping the previous record of 224 set by Ticha Penicheiro in 1998.
court vision 💯
Caitlin Clark has set a new @WNBA record for most assists in a season by a rookie! pic.twitter.com/JvSixYzNPN
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) August 18, 2024
Even more impressive for Clark was that she accomplished the feat in 28 games, two fewer contests than it took Penicheiro.
Unlike her longtime rival, Angel Reese, Clark is not breaking WNBA records by taking an egregious number of shots and collecting the rebounds from her own misses. She is actually distributing the ball efficiently and effectively to her teammates, and the results are that the Fever has gone from being far and away the worst team in the league to sitting pretty as the three-seed in the Eastern Conference playoff standings.
another angle of the record breaking assist by Caitlin Clark 😮💨 https://t.co/vzSuTza9Y5 pic.twitter.com/LnPE8ALkiJ
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) August 18, 2024
The historical mark against the Storm follows another significant moment on Friday, as Clark notched her tenth double-double in a 98-89 win against the Phoenix Mercury.