Caitlin Clark sets WNBA record for assists in a single season

The records keep rolling in for Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark.

After breaking the record for most assists in a single game and assists by a rookie in their debut season, Clark set the WNBA record for most assists in a single season on Friday against the Las Vegas Aces.

Clark needed four assists to tie the previous record (316), which Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas set last season. Clark broke the record in the second quarter when she found Kelsey Mitchell, who made a 3-pointer. Clark finished with nine assists as the Fever lost 78-74 to the Aces, bringing her total to 321 for the season.

It was fitting that another season record was set Friday night. On Wednesday night, when the Fever and Aces faced off for the first time this week, Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson set a new season record. Numerous other WNBA records have been broken over the past two seasons since the regular season expanded to 40 games.

“You’re still going to see records being broken, but I also think it’s really good basketball, and that’s why it’s so much fun to watch,” Clark said after the game when asked about the records broken in the WNBA this season.

When the WNBA began in 1997, the season was 28 games long. The next year it was 30 games, and the year after that it was 32, which lasted until 2002. The regular season was 34 games from 2003 to 2019. Courtney Vandersloot had 300 assists in 2019 and tied with 258 in 2018, but prior to those two notable seasons, no player had recorded more than 250 assists since 2000. Ticha Penicheiro, who held the previous single-season rookie assist record, recorded 236 assists in 2000.

The moment Caitlin Clark broke the WNBA record for assists in a single season 👏#IONWNBA | @IndianaFever photo.twitter.com/CvddhlLBpG

— WNBA on ION (@IONWNBA) September 14, 2024

Clark set numerous other records this season. She recorded the first rookie triple-double in WNBA history in early July against the New York Liberty. In late August, she recorded the rookie 3-point single-season record against the Atlanta Dream. Clark became the first rookie in WNBA history to record 400 points, 100 rebounds and 150 assists in a season, and she recorded the most 15-point, 5-assist games in a season.

She could also make more history, including the record for points scored in a single season for a rookie, a record set in 2006 by Seimone Augustus when she scored 744 points – albeit in 34 games.

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As remarkable as the individual stats are, Indiana entered Friday night’s game having won eight of its last 11 games and boasting the best offensive rating of any team in the league since the All-Star break. After a 2-9 start, the Fever have also moved into sixth place in the playoffs. They have already secured a playoff spot — their first since 2016 — and could come away with their first winning season since 2015, when they reached the WNBA Finals.

“It’s definitely a big moment for this place, but at the same time, I came in with the expectation that this would happen,” Clark said of leading Indiana back to the postseason. “For me, this is not a celebration. It’s awesome, I feel like it’s a great accomplishment, but there’s a lot more to come.”

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(Photo: Justin Casterline/NBAE via Getty Images)