Dish it and take it: Caitlin Clark breaks single-season WNBA assist record

The Indiana Fever guard doled out her 317th assist of the season, edging out a 2023 record to set a new peak

By Griffin Eckstein

News Fellow

Published September 13, 2024 10:08PM (EDT)

Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever controls the ball during the game against the New York Liberty on June 2, 2024 at the Barclayys Center in Brooklyn, New York. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever controls the ball during the game against the New York Liberty on June 2, 2024 at the Barclayys Center in Brooklyn, New York. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark broke the all-time WNBA record for assists in a single season on Friday, as her rookie regular season nears a close.

Clark made her record 317th assist during a Friday night face-off against the Las Vegas Aces, breaking Olympic gold medal winner Alyssa Thomas’s 2023 record.

Clark's statline was impressive without the record, notching 18 points and snagging eight rebounds in a 78-74 loss to the Aces.

The young superstar of women’s basketball, who was the No. 1 pick in the April draft, has shattered numerous records this season, after a historic college ball career with the Iowa Hawkeyes. The all-time points leader in NCAA history broke the WNBA record for 3-pointers made in a rookie season last month.

With 19 wins so far this season, the Fever narrowly earned a spot in the WNBA playoffs. It will be the team's first appearance in the postseason since 2016.

Clark has been unwittingly caught in the crossfire of culture war battles since she joined the league. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert tried to pit her and Chicago Sky guard Angel Reese as rivals by citing their races earlier this week, a move that drew condemnation from the players' union.

Clark and Reese are widely regarded as the favorites to win the Rookie of the Year award at the season’s end.


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