INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark was in big trouble on a night she dominated the record books.
The Indiana Fever star saved the turnover and crawled back to half court as the shot clock ticked down with less than a minute remaining and the score tied with the Seattle Storm. She then drove to the left, stopped for a minute and quickly moved to the side to get rid of Flower’ja Johnson.
With just seconds left and 39.1 seconds left, Clark rose from 26 feet away and hit nothing but the twine. She turned, stuck out her tongue and cursed as the crowd erupted in a fit of jubilation. The Fever never trailed again as they won 110–107, with Clark becoming the first player in WNBA history to record 45 points and 10 assists.
| * 1st WNBA player with 40 points and 10 assists in a game. |
| * 1st player to score 45+ points in less than 30 minutes. |
| * Franchise record for Fever: 45 |
| *Fastest career 200 3-pointers: 74th game |
| * Third player to score 45 points this season |
| * 4th career game, 30 points and 10 assists. |
| Source: ESPN Research |
“Sometimes you know you have it before the ball goes over,” Clark said. “I felt like this would be one of those for me.
“I feel like you just have to believe that you’re going to have nights like this and you have to visualize nights like this. And I feel like that’s what I did.”
The achievements piled up on this Friday evening. Her 45 points set a franchise record as she became the first player in league history to do so in less than 30 minutes. With six three-pointers, Clark became the fastest player to make 200 three-point field goals (74 games). It was her fourth 30-point, 10-assist game, the only four such times in league history.
Clark attacked the basket several times early on and she shot 17 of 19 from the free throw line. When the defense started to defend against attacks, that’s when the three-point line opened up.
The performance was not just an offensive masterpiece; Clark also had four steals and two blocks. The final block came after Johnson stole the ball and went the other way for a layup, but Clark raced back to make a defensive play. That started the three-pointer.
“There’s just greatness here, man,” said Fever center Makayla Timpson, who started in place of the injured Aliyah Boston (right calf). “She does some crazy stuff on the court, man.”
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Clark scored 16 points in the fourth after the Storm led 88-82 after three quarters. The evening was already special when Clark taunted Jade Melbourne with shaky forearms and retreated for another three from 32 feet, setting a career-high 38 points and cutting the lead to one. All this while on a minutes restriction due to a back injury that had forced her to play an average of 25 minutes in the previous two games. According to her, she did not have the opportunity to go to the site.
“Steph knows best,” Clark said of Fever coach Stephanie White as a toothy grin appeared on her face. “The coaches know better… It didn’t matter, I would have played with one foot.”
Clarke wasn’t the only one to put in a fantastic attacking performance. Fellow All-Star starter Kelsey Mitchell scored 17 points in the first quarter and finished with 30 points, her franchise-record ninth straight game with 20-plus points. She is the ninth player in league history to score nine consecutive goals. The backcourt duo became the first teammates in WNBA history to score 40 and 30 goals in the same game.
For Seattle, Dominique Malonga had 28 points (the second-most of her career) and 14 rebounds, and the Storm set a franchise record for points scored in a regulation loss.
Teammate Ava Pham had 16 points and nine rebounds while going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. She became the youngest player in league history to make four 3-pointers in a quarter.
To be honest, defense was an afterthought at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Storm outscored the Fever 32-23 in the third quarter to take the lead for the first time since midway through the first quarter. Seattle shot 56.6% from the field but couldn’t stop the Fever’s rally. And no one had an answer for Clark on a day she knew would be good before she even stepped on the court.
“It’s incredible,” White said. “I mean, it’s something special. She does something we haven’t seen before. She used to have a lot of jumps. You could tell she felt better. She felt good and it’s sometimes surreal to see in the moment.
“I look at the stats at the end of the game and it’s fucking 45 and 10.”
Clark said she intends to play in her second straight game Saturday against the New York Liberty. Medical staff will likely be paying attention to how her body reacts to Friday night’s effort, but the added weight comes from a game featuring two teams with championship aspirations who sit sixth and seventh in the standings. Boston is expected to return.
“I still feel like I can play better,” Clark said. “It’s one of the hardest things to come back from an injury, get out of a rut and rest. You just have to keep believing in yourself and believing in the work you put in. “It’s great, but tomorrow we have another really difficult test ahead of us, so we need to prepare for that.”

