WNBA Record Watch: A’ja Wilson, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark Can Make History for Another Month

While players are locked in the playoff race with a WNBA championship ring on their minds, fans are intrigued by what records they could break along the way. Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese are on track to break records, while Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark is close to breaking one. The single-season records for points, rebounds and assists could all fall next month when the season ends on Sept. 19.

Single-season totals will likely be broken, too. But averages are more indicative of individual and team success, as the league has fluctuated in games played over its 28-year history. The 2023 schedule was the first to feature 40 games, which is why a slew of records were broken last fall.

Jewell Loyd (939 points, 254 free throws), Alyssa Thomas (316 assists, 314 defensive rebounds), A’ja Wilson (326 2-pointers) and Sabrina Ionescu (128 3-pointers) all broke their records last year and will be joined by their peers in the top five in 2023.

Records are made to be broken.

Scoring: A’ja Wilson, 26.89 ppg
Record holder: Diana Taurasi, 25.29 ppg

Wilson, who is tearing up the record book en route to one of the best single-season performances in WNBA history, is on pace to set the scoring average record since Day 1 when she scored 30 points against Phoenix. She has scored fewer than 20 points only three times this season, including in Wednesday’s loss to Minnesota.

The hopeless MVP candidate needs to average 10.4 points over the final 13 games to equal Taurasi’s record from 2006. Unsurprisingly, Phoenix averaged a league-leading 87.1 points per game that season, while the Aces are leading the league at 87.8 points per game.

Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd came close to breaking the record last year, averaging 24.7 ppg with a record-tying 12 30-point outings. Wilson has scored at least 30 in eight games this year.

Wilson holds a series of record watches that are too numerous to count. Her 4.88 average (2.04 steals per game plus 2.85 blocks per game) is on pace to break Hall of Famer Yolanda Griffith’s record. Griffith averaged 4.5 (2.59 steals, 1.91 blocks) for Sacramento in 2000. Brittney Griner averaged 4.41, based almost entirely on 3.79 blocks in her record-setting 2014 season.

Rebounds: Angel Reese, 12.3 rebounds per game; Wilson, 11.85 rebounds per game
Record holder: Sylvia Fowles, 11.88

Reese has already set a pair of rebounding records in her rookie year, including back-to-back double-doubles and the franchise’s single-season rebounding record. It should come as no surprise then that she’s on track to rewrite the WNBA record book for rebounding average.

She is averaging the same number of rebounds per game as she did in her college career (12.3 rpg) with a similar offensive/defensive split. She ranks first in the WNBA this season with 5 offensive rebounds per game and sixth in defensive rebounds (7.3). The rookie record for offensive rebounds per game is 4.86, set by Yolanda Griffith of the Sacramento Monarchs in 1999 (141 in 29 games). The overall rebounding average record is 11.71, set by Tina Charles in 2010 with the Connecticut Sun.

A’ja Wilson shattered her previous single-season career high of 9.5 rpg set last season, marking her second consecutive runner-up finish in the category. Wilson’s 31.5% defensive rebound rate ranks first, while her 19.7% overall rebound rate ranks third. She was second with 11.96 rpg before a nine-rebound night against Minnesota dropped her to fourth.

The rebounding record has stood since 2018, when Fowles broke the mark set the season before by then-Connecticut Sun forward Jonquel Jones (11.85). Fowles, who averaged 10.41 in 2017, and Jones, who also averaged 11.22 in 2021, are the only players in the last decade to rank in the top 25.

Crosses: Caitlin Clark, 8.29
Record holder: Courtney Vandersloot, 9.95

Clark, another rookie who seemingly breaks records every week, isn’t exactly on track to break the record, but she’s toying with it as her grasp on the professional level and her teammates’ understanding of her blossoms. The Fever point guard’s pace has accelerated over the last 15 games to get into the position, though she’d need to average about 14 assists per game from here on out to set the record. She’s on pace to break the rookie record of 7.5 apg set by Ticha Penicheiro with the Sacramento Monarchs in 1998 (225 assists in 30 games).

Clark averaged 6.3 assists in her first 20 games, but she reached double figures for the first time late in the season with 13 against Chicago. It was the start of a seven-game streak in which she averaged 11.7 assists and set the franchise record of 13 assists in a game four times. In the final game before the break, she set the WNBA single-game record with 19 assists, which could have been higher had easy buckets been made.

The record will be hers someday, and she could win the peak performer award for assists, just as Vandersloot did when she was with the Chicago Sky. Vandersloot, who signed with the Liberty in 2023, was ranked first through sixth in the record book before Clark joined the league. Clark currently sits in fifth place and needs to average 11 per game over the last 12 games to move into second place (9.09 apg) and 9.4 per game for third (8.6 apg).

Vandersloot became the first WNBA player to average double figures in assists in a season in 2020 after a video review corrected an assist in a game the month before. The recount determined that an assist credited to Allie Quigley, Vandersloot’s wife and Sky teammate, should have gone to Vandersloot.

The official grade for the season is 9.95, but the Elias Sports Bureau said it would be rounded to 10. The 22-game 2020 season was played in a bubble in Bradenton, Florida, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minutes per game: Arike Ogunbowale, 38.42
Record holder: Katie Smith, 38.56

Ogunbowale is used to big minutes — her 2023 season ranks seventh — but not to the tune of what she’s playing this season. She played a season-low 33:38 in early June, followed by a full 40-minute showing the next night. The veteran guard also played all 50 minutes of a double-overtime loss to Phoenix in June.

She has carried a heavy load as the Wings battled injuries, playing at least 39 minutes in six of 26 games.

Attendance: Indiana Fever, 16,996
Record holder: Washington Mystics, 16,202

Everyone wants to see Clark and company make history again. Their season-low game total (15,022) is higher than most other franchises’ single-season records, including the previous record of 11,266 set by the Fever in 2000. The season low came after the Indy 500 and Memorial Day weekend, Indianapolis’s busiest sports weekend.

The Fever’s average attendance (16,996) would break the Mystics’ record of 16,202, set in 2002. Washington regularly filled the Capital One Center in the WNBA’s early years, moving to the Entertainment and Sports Arena (capacity 4,200) in 2019.

The combined league attendance of 9,733 ranks third behind 1998 (10,205) and 1999 (10,869), and many teams average attendance at 70% or more of their arena’s capacity. A few teams in the WNBA play in arenas with capacities in the 3,000-5,000 range, which hurts their overall numbers, even as they individually sell out stadiums and draw record crowds.

The Aces are averaging 11,042 fans, up 2,000 from last season and about 92% of Michelob Ultra Arena’s listed capacity. The team announced it had run out of season tickets for the year. The Angel Reese-led Chicago Sky are averaging 8,743 fans to fill about 84% of Wintrust Arena. And the Liberty’s next-best average of 12,662 fans fills 71% of Barclays Center.

Team winning percentage: New York Liberty, .857
Record Holder: Houston Comets, .900

Of all the records that fall in September, this is the least likely of the bunch. To tie the record, the Liberty would need to win their last 12 games. That’s unlikely for a bunch of reasons. Not only is it tough to reel off 12 straight wins, the team could also decide to rest some of its stars with the bigger picture of the franchise’s first WNBA championship in mind. Sabrina Ionescu already missed Tuesday night’s game against Dallas with neck soreness, and several other players have missed time with injuries.

As with many of the records the Comets set in their early seasons in the league, their winning percentage may never be matched. The Liberty could break the Aces’ record for wins by surpassing 34, their total from last season, to edge out New York for the No. 1 postseason seed.

One record that Liberty could break is team assists per game, set at 24.28 by the 2022 Chicago Sky team and nearly broken by Liberty (24.13) last year. The 2024 Liberty is averaging 22.89 assists per game, slightly behind the Minnesota Lynx’s 23.29.