Caitlin Clark Breaks WBNA Record In Loss To The Dallas Wings

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Caitlin Clark smiled and hesitated just long enough for Indiana 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 month-long 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.”

Perhaps Clark hesitated because of her turnover with 36 seconds left and the Fever trailing by four. 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 Dallas’ game-ending 8-0 run.

“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 Chicago on Aug. 31, 2020. Vandersloot also had 18 in a playoff game on Sept. 28, 2021. Ticha Penicheiro set the old rookie mark of 16 for Sacramento 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.

“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 were instead of passing that