By Mark Puleo and Ben Pickman

213

The legend of Caitlin Clark grows yet again. The Indiana Fever star became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double Saturday as she pulled down her 10th rebound midway through the fourth quarter against the New York Liberty.

Clark’s historic performance fueled the Fever to an 83-79 upset over the league-leading Liberty, as she finished with 19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds while the Fever erased a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit.

Clark also became the first player in Fever history to record a triple-double.

“Honestly, I’m just happy we won,” Clark said afterward. “I take a lot of pride in being able to do a lot of different things for this team. I think we’re really good when I can get the ball off the glass and just go in transition and find my teammates and set them up. Obviously 13 assists, that means my teammates made 13 shots off my passes so that goes to them.”

 

The Fever needed every ounce of production from Clark’s game-high 38 minutes, as the Liberty were led by 42 combined points from Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. Clark rode a hot start to her history-making performance Saturday, as she had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists by halftime.

Her 13 assists and 12 rebounds both match her career highs.

Indiana’s home supporters roared in delight as Clark pulled down her 10th rebound with 7:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. Clark said afterward she wasn’t “too aware” of what she needed for the triple-double, but the crowd nevertheless made clear she had made history.

“Obviously, it’s really cool. I’ve been finishing the ball at a really really high rate,” she said. “My assist numbers, that’s because of (my teammates), just finding them in positions to be successful, whether it’s (Aliyah Boston), whether it’s (NaLyssa Smith). They’ve done a really good job of that. I guess it’s cool.”

Clark became a regular triple-double machine during her time at Iowa, tallying a Big Ten record (men’s or women’s) 17 triple-doubles. The previous record was six.

The only player in NCAA history with more triple-doubles than Clark was Ionescu.

More than just Clark’s historic performance, Indiana showed significant improvement in its fourth, and final, meeting against the Liberty. Indiana entered Saturday on a nine-game losing streak to New York, having lost twice this season by 36 points, the worst two losses of its season.

The last time these two teams played — on July 2 — marked the end of an 11-game in 20-day stretch for the Fever. Fatigue proved to be a factor, with Indiana shooting only 37 percent from the field and allowing New York to shoot 57.6 percent from the field. Indiana’s defense was much improved on Saturday, holding New York to 40.3 percent shooting from the field and 23.7 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Clark said afterward impressed by how Indiana has responded to opposing runs in recent games. The Fever overcame a 15-point second-half deficit against the Phoenix Mercury last weekend and an 11-point on Saturday.

“I think the biggest difference for us has been when teams make runs, we don’t crumble,” Clark said. “We’ve kind of just been able to change our mindset and really just stay together, and attack it together.”

Entering Saturday, Clark has averaged 16 points, 7.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds in 21 games for the Fever. She has now recorded at least a double-double in four of her last seven games and came close to this historic feat with her 15-points, 12-assist, 9-rebound performance against the Mercury on June 30.