ARLINGTON, Texas — Caitlin Clark smiled and hesitated just long enough for Indiana Fever teammate Aliyah Boston to intercept the answer for what it meant to the rookie to set a WNBA record with 19 assists in a game.
Clark’s milestone came in the Fever’s 101-93 loss to the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night in the final game before the league’s monthlong break for the Olympics, which is why Boston jumped in.
“She’s going to say it means nothing,” Boston said. “But I think it’s pretty cool. So, sorry.”
Clark’s delay in answering might have been because of her turnover with 36 seconds left and the Fever trailing by four points. She got trapped, lost the ball on a steal by Natasha Howard and stayed crouched on the court in disbelief after the Wings called a timeout to preserve their possession.
On Clark’s record-setting assist, she set up Kelsey Mitchell up for a 3-pointer that tied it at 93 with 2:22 remaining. The turnover came during the Wings’ decisive 8-0 run to end the game.
“Yeah, the late turnover. That one kills, for sure,” Clark said. “It’s like a fine line of they were up pressuring me, so then I kind of got behind them and was able to attack, and then I tried to pull it and kind of lost my handle.”
The previous record was 18 by Courtney Vandersloot for the Chicago Sky on Aug. 31, 2020. Vandersloot also had 18 in a playoff game on Sept. 28, 2021. Ticha Penicheiro set the previous rookie mark for single-game assists with 16 for the Sacramento Monarchs on July 29, 1998.
Clark scored 24 points on a rough shooting night from 3-point range (2-of-9), while Boston scored 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting.
Eight of Boston’s baskets came on assists from Clark, a 6-foot guard who was the No. 1 pick of this year’s WNBA draft after breaking the NCAA scoring record at the University of Iowa. Boston, a 6-5 forward, was the top pick a year ago out of South Carolina.
“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, and more than a month will remain in the 2024 regular season when teams return to the court. 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.
Clark’s previous season high for assists was 13, set four times. The most recent was in a 95-86 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night.