Fever’s Caitlin Clark breaks WNBA’s single-season assists record

INDIANAPOLIS — Rookie star Caitlin Clark broke the WNBA record for most assists in a single season on Friday night as the Indiana Fever fell 78-74 to the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces.

Clark recorded her 317th assist of the season at the 4:55 mark of the second quarter when Kelsey Mitchell took her pass and scored on a drive. The rookie passed Alyssa Thomas’ 316 dimes from last season. She finished the game with nine assists, giving her 321 assists.

Clark’s performance came two days after MVP candidate A’ja Wilson set a record for points scored in a season. Wilson, who scored 15 points on Friday night, now has 971, making her 29 shy of becoming the first player to reach 1,000 points in a season.

Earlier this summer, Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese set a single-season WNBA record for rebounds (446). Reese’s rebounding average (13.1) and Wilson’s scoring average (27.0) are both on pace to set league records, and while Clark leads the league with 8.4 assists per game, it appears Courtney Vandersloot’s 10.0 assist average in 2020 will remain the league’s single-season record.

“I think it definitely speaks to the whole year and how historic it’s been for this league and how great the basketball has been for the league and we’re not even in the playoffs yet,” Clark said. “I think that’s the fun part, you’re just going to see records being broken, but I also think it’s really good basketball, and that’s why it’s so fun to watch.

“That’s why the fans came. The viewership this year has been absolutely crushing. So I think everyone’s just stepping up their game. The competition is getting better and better and it’s fun to come into this competition every night as a competitor and know that you’ve got to do your best because whoever’s on the other side of the court, they’re going to do their best, and that’s what makes it fun. It’s cool to see everyone really step up and elevate themselves, and to be a part of that is really fun for me too.”

According to ESPN Research, Clark has led her team in assists 34 times this season, extending her WNBA record. She also has at least five assists in 25 consecutive games, tying her with Vandersloot for the second-longest streak in WNBA history in 2021; Vandersloot holds the record with 40 consecutive, set in the 2018-19 seasons.

Clark may have added a new accolade to her resume, but her first half was otherwise uneventful. She was held scoreless to 0-for-5 shooting from the field and picked up her sixth technical foul when she hit the post in frustration after being fouled on defense. If she gets another one before the end of the regular season, she will be suspended for one game.

Clark came back with 18 points in the second half. Mitchell finished with a team-high 20, including 19 in the first half.

For the Aces, Wilson finished with 17 rebounds, her WNBA-record 11th 15-15 game of the season. Point guard Chelsea Gray’s 21 points marked her second 20-pointer of the season and first since late June, when she returned from a 2023 foot injury that sidelined her until the start of the 2024 season.

“I feel like myself again after the Olympic break,” Gray said. “You want to play your best basketball in September and October. … I just trust the process and I know I’ve worked hard for it. … I have to give myself to the outcome, and that’s what I did and it paid off tonight.”

Las Vegas led by as many as 13 points on Friday, but the Fever pulled within two with less than two minutes left. A 3-pointer by Kelsey Plum with 56 seconds left gave the Aces some breathing room.

However, Fever players and coach Christie Sides lamented that Indiana made 11 of 20 free throws and that there were some poor results in the first quarter and early in the third quarter against Las Vegas.

The Aces are the only team the Fever has not defeated this season, though Friday’s result was the closest of all four after an 11-point loss on Wednesday. Indiana’s back-to-back losses were its first since late June.

“When we played Vegas before, we weren’t there, and they got us,” Sides said. “But now they’ve got to really believe that we’re there with those guys, and I think they do. And now we just have to find ways to avoid the bullshit that we have. … That was playoff basketball tonight, and you’ve got to make sure you don’t give them a chance to take advantage of moments where you’re frustrated or it’s just not going our way and we take away multiple possessions. You just can’t do that with these great teams.”

Meanwhile, after a five-in-seven-game losing streak, Las Vegas is finding its stride with six wins in its last seven games, with its only loss in that span coming against top-ranked New York Liberty without Wilson (ankle).

“We’re just focused on the next game. We’re playing Connecticut (on Sunday), one of the best teams in the league, super tough, and we’ve got a tough schedule,” Plum said of the future. “Honestly, we’ve got to focus on what’s in front of us, one game at a time, and when we get to the playoffs, we’ll lock it in.”