- Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky were drafted to incredible fanfare for their WNBA rookie seasons.
- The two rookies have lived up to the hype and then some, as Clark and Reese have been shattering WNBA records all seasons.
- Clark has set the rookie record for assists in a season, while Reese is now the fastest player to 20 double-doubles.
The WNBA is back in full swing after the Olympic break, and the players who were in Paris are back to help their teams down the homestretch. Two of the players who didn’t make the team look like they’re refreshed and ready to set more records.
Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago’s Angel Reese were fantastic this weekend as they continued to assault the WNBA’s rookie records. Clark set the season assists record for rookies in a 92-75 win over Seattle on Sunday. Later that night, Reese became the fastest player, rookie or otherwise, to get to 20 career doubles in an 86-68 loss at Phoenix.
Clark Comes Out of the Olympic Break Red-Hot
Clark is still the WNBA betting leader in Rookie of the Year odds, and she has improved as the season has progressed. She picked the first rookie triple-double in WNBA history back on July 6, and then on July 17, Clark set the WNBA single-game record for assists with 19. That’s not to mention, all the off-court record, such as WNBA record betting wagers and crowd attendances.
On Sunday, August 18, Clark set the rookie record for assists in a season, breaking Ticha Penicheiro’s record of 224, which was established in 1998. Clark now has 232 assists on the season, and will shatter that record as there are 12 regular-season games remaining. Penicheiro sent Clark a message after the record was broken:
Clark also had 23 points and five rebounds against Seattle. In the previous game, Clark dropped 29 points, 10 assist and five rebounds in a 98-89 home win over Phoenix. Indiana is now 13-15, and are in seventh place in the WNBA, which is a playoff spot. Clark is averaging 17.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and her 8.3 assists leads the league.
Reese Continues to be a Menace on the Boards
While Clark gets the bulk of the attention, Reese has proven that she is a star in her own right. Reese had 19 points and snatched a career-high 20 rebounds in their loss in Phoenix on Sunday night. An ESPN recap reveals that Reese has now had 10 or more boards in 20 straight games, and she needs just three more double-doubles to break Tina Charles’ rookie record.
Reese’s Sky are 11-16, 1.5 games behind Indiana, but Chicago is still 1.5 games ahead of Atlanta for the final playoff spot in the WNBA. Reese is putting up 13.6 points and 12.3 boards, which leads the league.
Clark and Reese Can Play Together as Well
While much of the narrative this season has been Clark vs. Reese, going back to their college days at Iowa and LSU, respectively, the two showed they could play together at the WNBA All-Star Game.
The duo was fantastic as Team WNBA beat Team USA 117-109 at the All-Star Game on July 20, with Clark racking up four points and 10 assists, while Reese had 12 points and 11 boards. And their hookup for a basket in that game got a ton of attention:
While they are rivals on the court, there is obviously respect between Clark and Reese, and the two will be in the WNBA spotlight for a long time to come.
