INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark seemed “bouncy” to Indiana coach Stephanie White before the Fever faced the Seattle Storm.
The sharpshooting star not too far removed from a back injury bounced 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 career while helping rally the Fever to a 110-107 victory, 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.
“I feel like you just have to believe you´re going to have those types of nights,” said Clark, who was 11 of 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 visualise having those types. I feel like that´s what I did,” Clark added according to AP.
It was Clark´s fourth game since returning from a two-week absence due to a back injury that sidelined her after a game against Phoenix in which she took a hit to the throat from Alyssa Thomas. The incident eventually led to a one-game suspension for Thomas.
Because of a long break between games, Clark only missed two. She played a season-low 16 minutes in a 106-92 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks in her first game back.
Clark, who became the fastest player to reach 200 career 3-pointers in the first half, 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.
