INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark seemed “bouncy” to coach Stephanie White before their team hosted the Seattle Storm on Friday night.
The sharp-shooting star not too far removed from a back injury jumped right into the record books: her own, her team’s and the WNBA’s.
Clark had the first 40-point game of her three-year pro career while helping rally the Fever to a 110-107 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, scoring 45 points with 10 assists to become the first player with 40 or more points and 10 or more assists in a game in WNBA history.
Oh, and the scoring total was a franchise record for the Fever, who debuted in 2000, the league’s fourth season.
“I feel like you just have to believe you’re going to have those type of nights,” said Clark, who shot 11-for-18 from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range, and had two more career highs by going 17-of-19 on free throws. “And you have to visualize having those type of nights. I feel like that’s what I did.”
It was Clark’s fourth game since returning from a two-week absence due to a back injury that sidelined her after a June 24 game in which she took a hit to the throat from Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas. The incident eventually led to a one-game suspension for Thomas.
Because of a long break between Indiana’s next two games after that, Clark missed only two contests. She played a season-low 16 minutes in a 106-92 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on July 8 in her first game back.
Clark, who became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 200 career 3-pointers in the first half Friday night, played all but 26 seconds of the fourth quarter against the Storm and scored 16 points while finishing just shy of her first 30-minute game in almost a month.
She reached 200 made 3s in her 74th WNBA game, beating the previous mark of 81 games by Katie Smith with the Minnesota Lynx from 1999 to 2001.
With the score tied in the final minute after the Fever trailed by eight midway through the fourth quarter, Clark recovered to block a breakaway layup attempt by Flau’jae Johnson. She then hit the 3-pointer that put Indiana up for good at 105-102 and made all four of her free throws in the final 17 seconds.
“I told (White) at halftime I felt really good and I didn’t want to lose this game,” said Clark, who was the No. 1 pick of the 2024 draft and that season’s rookie of the year after a record-setting college career with the Iowa Hawkeyes. “I can trust all the work I’ve put in on my body. I’ve spent a ton of time on it. I know I’m doing all the right things. There was no way I was ever coming out of the game in the fourth quarter.”
Clark, who recently received her third WNBA All-Star Game selection, missed most of last season due to injuries, and the Fever are being careful with how they use her after her latest setback. She didn’t play the second contest when Indiana had back-to-back games July 8-9.
Clark didn’t rule out playing again Saturday night, when the New York Liberty visit Indianapolis, but White wanted to spend a little time savoring this performance, which included four steals, two blocks and a pair of rebounds.
“She does things that we haven’t seen,” the Fever coach said. “In the moment, sometimes it’s surreal to see. Looking down at the stat sheet, and I’m looking at different numbers, and I look down at the stat sheet at the end of the game and it’s like, ‘Holy (expletive). Forty-five and 10.’ Just an absolutely incredible performance.”
Clark’s career night came after she went 3-of-19 from 3-point range in the previous three games, dropping her shooting percentage from behind the arc to 32% for the season. She finished the game one 3 shy of her WNBA career high.
“You’ve just got to dig your feet in a little bit,” Clark said. “When it’s not going your way, nobody cares. Find a way to make it better and find a way to help your team win and make this team better.”
Kelsey Mitchell scored 30 points for the Fever (15-10), and Monique Billings added 16 as Indiana won despite a notable absence in the frontcourt as four-time WNBA All-Star Aliyah Boston, who is dealing with a leg injury, did not play.
Malonga had 28 points and 14 rebounds for Seattle (6-21), which has lost four straight games and six of its past seven.