ARLINGTON, Texas — Caitlin Clark had 19 assists to break the WNBA game record in the Indiana Fever's 101-93 loss to the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night in the final WNBA contest before the month-long break for the Olympics.
Clark broke the mark of 18 set by Courtney Vandersloot for Chicago against Indiana on Aug. 31, 2020. Vandersloot also had 18 in a playoff game Sept. 28, 2021.
“She’s going to say it means nothing,” Aliyah Boston said. “But I think it’s pretty cool. So, sorry.”
The record-breaker came on a play where she set Kelsey Mitchell up for a 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining. That tied it at 93, but Dallas closed with an 8-0 run.
Odyssey Sims and Arike Ogunbowale each scored 24 points for Dallas (6-19). Natasha Howard added 17 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and four steals. The Wings scored 100-plus points for the second time this season.
Boston led Indiana (11-15) with a career-high 28 points, and Clark finished with 24 points. NaLyssa Smith had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Ogunbowale made a huge shot just before the shot-clock buzzer with 44.6 seconds left. Ogunbowale dribbled into the lane and had it poked away before she corralled it and quickly hit a fadeaway jumper for a 97-93 lead.
Clark picked up her 14th assist early in the fourth quarter to top her previous career high of 13, set four times. She became just the second rookie in WNBA history to go over 200 assists in a season, joining Ticha Penicheiro (225) in 1998. Clark broke Penicheiro's rookie assists record of 16, set July 29, 1998.
“I just try to set my teammates up for success. I think at times I can almost overpass,” Clark said. “There probably could have been a few times where instead of passing that leads to a turnover I may have, I can probably shoot the ball. Especially with (Boston). I’m just looking to set her up so much. My eyes are almost always on our post players.”
Clark is the first rookie and ninth player overall in WNBA history with at least 400 points and 200 assists in a season. Chelsea Gray has three such seasons, Alyssa Thomas has two and six other players — Sue Bird, Jordin Canada, Natasha Cloud, Sabrina Ionescu, Courtney Williams and Vandersloot — have done it once.
BOX SCORE
INDIANA (93)
Samuelson 1-6 0-0 3, Smith 5-12 3-5 13, Boston 11-14 5-7 28, Clark 10-19 2-3 24, Mitchell 6-10 0-0 13, Dantas 3-4 0-0 6, Hull 2-6 1-2 6, Wheeler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-71 11-17 93.
DALLAS (101)
Howard 5-16 6-6 17, Sheldon 4-6 0-0 11, McCowan 5-8 0-1 10, Ogunbowale 8-21 6-7 24, Sims 10-17 1-2 24, Billings 1-2 0-0 2, K.Brown 6-6 1-2 13, Uzun 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 39-76 14-18 101.
Indiana 20 26 24 23 — 93
Dallas 27 27 18 29 — 101
3-Point Goals: Indiana 6-25 (Clark 2-9, Boston 1-1, Mitchell 1-3, Hull 1-4, Samuelson 1-6, Dantas 0-1, Smith 0-1), Dallas 9-20 (Sheldon 3-5, Sims 3-7, Ogunbowale 2-5, Howard 1-3).
Fouled Out: None.
Rebounds: Indiana 35 (Smith 12), Dallas 29 (Howard, Ogunbowale 7).
Assists: Indiana 26 (Clark 19), Dallas 28 (Sims 9).
Total Fouls: Indiana 15, Dallas 18.
Attendance: 6,251 (7,000).