Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark achieved yet another WNBA milestone on Sunday, becoming the fastest player in league history to reach 300 career assists in her team’s 104-100 overtime win against the Atlanta Dream.
The 22-year-old scored 26 points and had 12 assists – along with five rebounds – in the Fever’s comeback victory to record her 14th double-double of the season, a franchise record. She also knocked down four three-pointers to take her season total to 111, extending the rookie record that she claimed at the end of August.
1 draft picks. 2023 No. 1 overall selection Aliyah Boston led the Fever in scoring with a career-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while the Dream’s Rhyne Howard – picked first in 2022 – exploded for 36 points.
Indiana struggled at times during the game and entered halftime having committed 12 turnovers to Atlanta’s one. The Dream opened up a 16-point advantage with just under seven minutes to go in the third quarter, but the Fever produced an 18-5 run to close the period, cutting the lead to three entering the fourth.
Howard knocks down a triple during the fourth quarter.
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Atlanta stretched the lead to nine in the fourth quarter but was reeled in by Indiana once again, with a Boston layup off Clark’s 10th assist tying the game at 90 with 18 seconds left.
Overtime was needed to separate the two teams and the Fever eventually seized the advantage. Two free throws from Clark in the final seconds of the matchup iced the game and moved Indiana to 19-17 on the season.
“I thought we just kept chipping away, got stops when we needed to and then the crowd was amazing and helped us get it done,” Clark said on court postgame.
The Fever secured a playoff spot on September 3, marking their return to the postseason for the first time since 2016.
“Right now, we’re kind of in the space where we just have to make sure that we’re keeping our foot on the gas,” said Boston. “I think we know that we’re very capable of beating any single team, just because of the way we play, the pace that we play at, and just the weapons that we have all around the floor.
“Even if we’re down, no matter what the time of the game is, we’re very capable of coming back.”
The Fever’s NaLyssa Smith scores a layup during the matchup.
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The defeat was a blow to the Dream’s hopes of securing the league’s eighth and final playoff berth. Atlanta is now 12-23 and sits ninth in the overall WNBA standings, one game behind the Chicago Sky.
Tina Charles and Jordin Canada each added 17 points for the Dream, while Allisha Gray was the team’s fourth player in double figures with 15.
