INDIANAPOLIS — In a recreation that noticed Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark break a number of information, each franchise and league-wide, the Fever averted a season sweep from the Seattle Storm with a powerful 92-75 victory Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Fever are 13-15 with two straight victories over groups forward of them within the standings. Indiana guard Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 27 factors, whereas Caitlin Clark had 23 and Lexie Hull scored a career-high 22.
Watch:Fever star Caitlin Clark set WNBA rookie report for assists in a season
Extra:Fever match final 12 months’s wins whole… with 12 video games left in 2024 season.
Lexie Hull units new profession excessive, leads Fever in 3-point taking pictures
All through her WNBA profession, Lexie Hull has been generally known as a defender. She all the time garnered the hardest defensive project, and relied on for protection greater than offense. As a task 3-point shooter, she had by no means made greater than three 3-pointers in a single recreation.
Till Sunday afternoon.
She got here off the bench for the defensive project of guarding Jewell Loyd — a participant who had scored greater than 90 factors over three video games towards the Fever. Loyd scored 23 factors towards the Fever on Sunday afternoon, however had a +/- of -17
The place Hull really shined, although, was on the 3-point arc.
Hull hit two 3s earlier than halftime, marking simply the fifth time in her profession she had a number of 3s in a recreation. The second half was even higher.
The Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd acquired louder and louder as Hull sank extra treys, culminating in a fourth-quarter shot that acquired them out of their seats. Hull’s sixth 3 of the evening not solely put the Fever up 12 factors with 4 minutes left, however it was a brand new profession excessive of twenty-two factors for the third-year participant. Her earlier excessive was 20, set towards Washington in July 2023.
Hull completed the sport 6-of-7 from 3-point vary and 8-of-10 from the sphere. She led the Fever to a 15-of-31 3-point taking pictures effort total — a large benefit over Seattle’s 7-of-20 taking pictures from 3-point vary.
Caitlin Clark turns into WNBA rookie assists chief
Caitlin Clark solely wanted two assists to interrupt a 26-year-old WNBA report. The rookie got here into the sport with 223 assists, simply behind Ticha Penicheiro’s WNBA rookie report of 224, which was set in 30 video games with the Sacramento Monarchs in 1998.
Naturally, she broke the report earlier than halftime. And he or she solely wanted 28 video games to do it.
Clark’s report got here within the second quarter on a publish entry cross beneath the basket to Lexie Hull, who weaved by defenders to get a straightforward layup.
Penicheiro congratulated Clark in a video posted to the Indiana Fever’s X web page, saying, “Congratulations! A report that stood since 1998, and also you got here right here and also you break it. Tremendous happy with you, I do know the work you set in. Lots of people speak about your taking pictures, I used to be all the time mesmerized by your passing, your court docket imaginative and prescient, and the way you make your teammates higher.”
Clark is averaging 8.3 assists per recreation thus far this season, giving her an opportunity to interrupt Alyssa Thomas’ WNBA report of 316 — set simply final 12 months. The rookie has 12 extra video games to take action, necessitating a mean of seven.5.
What number of factors did Caitlin Clark rating vs Seattle Storm?
The rookie had 23 factors towards the Storm on 9-of-19 taking pictures, including on 9 assists and 5 rebounds.