Fever trip Caitlin Clark’s record-tying seven 3s, 30 factors

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark tied the WNBA rookie file for 3-pointers in a recreation Friday evening, making seven en path to a game-high 30 factors in an 85-83 win over the Mystics in Washington.

Clark shot 7-of-13 from 3-point vary and 8-of-15 general, tying her season scoring excessive (Could 28 vs. Los Angeles) for Indiana (3-9). She additionally had 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals with 8 turnovers.

“It felt good to shoot the ball nicely. I felt like even my misses have been proper there,” Clark mentioned. “It was good to have an evening like that, and general we shot the ball nicely, 16 made 3s.

“I began off lacking my first two, so it was type of annoying as a result of each of them have been fairly open. However I feel it was simply ‘maintain capturing,’ and I assumed my teammates set actually good screens. I used to be simply in a position to create off of these. As a shooter, when you see one or two go in, the basket simply seems larger and larger.”

Clark tied Crystal Robinson’s rookie file with the seven 3-pointers. Robinson set the mark in 1999 whereas with the New York Liberty, however she wasn’t really knowledgeable rookie, having performed two seasons beforehand with the Colorado Xplosion within the short-lived American Basketball League. Robinson is presently an assistant coach with the Chicago Sky.

Clark is thought for her capturing vary, and that was on show Friday. In response to Second Spectrum, her common shot distance vs. the Mystics was 24 toes, the longest by any participant this season. Eleven of her 3s have been at the very least 25 toes. She has eight video games with at the very least seven pictures from 25 toes; New York’s Sabrina Ionescu is the one different participant who has achieved that this season (as soon as).

Clark additionally turned the quickest WNBA participant to succeed in 200 factors and 75 assists, doing it in 12 video games. Seattle’s Sue Chicken had the earlier mark, doing it in 14 video games in 2002. Clark has led or co-led the Fever in assists in each recreation this season.

The Mystics (0-11) performed each Thursday (vs. the Sky and rookie Angel Reese) and Friday at Capital One Enviornment, drawing 10,000 the primary evening and 20,333 the second. They used to play in that area full-time however relocated to the smaller Leisure and Sports activities Enviornment (4,200 capability) in 2019. The draw of rookies Reese and Clark prompted the Mystics to maneuver these video games to the bigger venue.

“The crowds by no means get previous; they’re nice,” Clark mentioned. “I feel at instances they could have been cheering for us. It is enjoyable to see folks in Fever gear. It is enjoyable to see folks screaming about girls’s basketball.”

After 11 video games in 20 days to open the season, the Fever mentioned they wanted relaxation greater than something. They acquired a few of that this previous week, and it helped as they bounced again from a 104-68 loss at New York on Sunday through which Clark was restricted to three factors.

Clark mentioned the tempo and physicality of the league are large challenges however nothing she did not anticipate.

“I knew what I used to be entering into,” she mentioned. “Perhaps some folks did not know the circumstances of the WNBA. However me, personally, I do know it is probably the greatest leagues on this planet, the gamers are actually good. I have been a giant fan of this league all my life. You are beginning a brand new chapter, a brand new a part of your profession changing into knowledgeable athlete. Not all the things’s going to click on in a single day. Maintain working and maintain grinding, and it’ll come over time.”