Caitlin Clark becomes first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double in win over New York Liberty
No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark made more history on Saturday afternoon during the Indiana Fever’s comeback win over the league-leading New York Liberty, 83-78. With her 10th rebound early in the fourth quarter, she became the first rookie to record a triple-double.
Clark finished the day with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists to also become the first player in Fever franchise history to have a triple-double.
“I feel like we’re playing good team basketball,” Clark said during her postgame interview. “My teammates are finishing really well around the rim and I wanna find them. It would have been nice if I could’ve made a couple more 3s, they gave me some good looks. But just happy for our group, a great win, great for our fans, and that’s just fun basketball.”
With Clark leading the way, the Fever were flying up and down the court early in the game, and used their transition attack to build an early double-digit lead. Clark scored the team’s first five points, and either scored or assisted on 12 of their 17 field goals in the first half.
The majority of the second half was a struggle for Clark and the Fever, but she stepped up when it mattered most. Facing a six-point deficit as the clock ticked under three minutes, Clark converted an and-one, then found Kelsey Mitchell for a 3 to tie the game. A few possessions later, she had a helper on Lexie Hull’s layup that pushed the Fever’s lead to four.
All told, Clark either scored or assisted on 46 of the Fever’s 83 points. This was the fourth game in a row that she has been responsible for at least half of the Fever’s points.
For the season, Clark is now averaging 16.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game. She leads all rookies in scoring and assists, and is third in the league in the latter category. The all-time rookie record is 7.5 assists per game by Ticha Penicheiro in 1998.
