Caitlin Clark continues to add milestones to her historic rookie campaign.
On Sunday, Clark surpassed Ticha Penicheiro for the most assists by a rookie in WNBA history while spearheading the Indiana Fever’s 92-75 win over the Seattle Storm.
Penicheiro set the previous record of 225 assists in 1998 with the Sacramento Monarchs.
However, Clark – who came into the game with 223 assists this season – added nine more to her tally and shattered the record with 12 games left before the playoffs.
The former Iowa Hawkeye broke the record late in the second quarter against the Storm. With the Fever trailing 19-25, Clark threaded a dime to Lexie Hull for a layup.
Caitlin Clark shattered the WNBA record for most assists by a rookie in a win over Seattle
Clark would inspire a comeback for the Fever, including a full-court dime over four Seattle defenders to find Kelsey Mitchell for an easy finish in the third.
The rookie parlayed her nine assists with 23 points and five rebounds.
Flirting with a triple-double, Clark would have had at least ten assists if not for a terrible miss by Mitchell on an open layup in the first quarter.
In the opening minutes of their meeting, Clark drew several defenders out of the paint, leaving room for Mitchell to make a run to an open basket.
They appeared to be on the same page as Clark bounced the pass to Mitchell for a chance to score Indiana’s first points. Without a defender in sight, Mitchell managed to miss the layup – as the ball bounced out of the rim.
Clark tallied nine assists to add to her 223 this season as Indiana emerged victorious, 92-75
Clark teased a double-double, with 23 points and five rebounds to add to her stat line
Nevertheless, Mitchell made up for the miss by scoring a game-high 27 points to help Indiana improve to 13-15 this season.
Behind Mitchell and Clark, Hull scored 22 points in 21 minutes off the bench.
On the other hand, Jewell Loyd led Seattle in scoring with 26 points. Additionally, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike tallied 15 and 14, respectively.
Clark showed her passing prowess earlier this season when she broke the WNBA record for single-game assists with 19 dimes in a loss to the Dallas Wings in July. The previous record was held by Courtney Vandersloot, with an 18-assist performance in August 2020.
Clark broke the record previously held by Ticha Penicheiro with her 225th assist of the season
Lexie Hull came off the Indiana bench and scored 22 points in 21 minutes
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana in scoring with 27 points in 35 minutes
Additionally, Clark became the fastest WNBA player to reach 400 points and 200 assists in a season. Clark needed just 26 games to achieve the feat, surpassing Sue Bird, who needed 33 games to tally such numbers.
Clark was also the first WNBA rookie to record a triple-double when she dropped 19 points, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds against league leaders New York Liberty in July. The performance also broke a nine-game skid for the Fever.
The Fever have won their last two games and will hit the road against the Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream on the 24th and 26th of August.
Indiana sits seventh in the league and third in the Eastern Conference.