Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has been rewriting the record books this season, largely in the assist department, but she turned her attention to the scoring section on Sunday. In the third quarter of the Fever's 110-109 win over the Dallas Wings, Clark surpassed Seimone Augustus for the rookie scoring record.
Clark needed 19 points on Sunday to overtake Augustus, who had held the record since 2006, and she got there in trademark fashion with a stepback 3-pointer. The No. 1 overall pick finished the day with a career-high 35 points and eight assists.
"I still had a few in and outs where I was like, 'man, how's it not going in,' but I felt like I played a good game," Clark said. "My shot felt good."
Rewriting the history books has been nothing new to Caitlin Clark, who has passed Seimone Augustus (744) for most points by a rookie in a single WNBA season 🙌
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 15, 2024
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For the season, Clark is averaging 19.5 points per game, which ranks eighth in the league and would be the fourth-best scoring average ever for a rookie.
Single-season rookie scoring record
| Player | Team | Season | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
Caitlin Clark | Fever | 2024 | 761 |
Seimone Augustus | 2006 | 744 | |
2018 | 682 | ||
Wings | 2019 | 630 | |
2006 | 624 | ||
Cynthia Cooper-Dyke | Comets | 1997 | 621 |
2016 | 621 |
Of course, it's worth noting the league now has 40-game regular seasons, so Clark has six more games than Augustus did when she set the record. At the same time, Augustus had six more games than Cynthia Cooper-Dyke did in 1997, when she set the original mark. But then, because the WNBA didn't start until 1997, Cooper-Dyke was 34 as a rookie and had already been playing professionally for a decade.
There will always be context to consider, but that doesn't take away from what Clark has done during her brilliant first season. She already has the rookie assist record and the all-time single-season assist mark. The combination of scoring and playmaking is unlike anything we've seen, regardless of a player's experience.
