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 matchup with the Dallas Wings, Clark surpassed Seimone Augustus for the rookie scoring record.
Clark needed 19 points to overtake Augustus, and she got there in trademark fashion with a stepback 3-pointer.
For the season, Clark is averaging 19.1 points per game, which ranks ninth in the league. Post-Olympics, though, she’s averaging 23.4 points, good for third in that span. Earlier this month, she passed Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings for the Fever’s rookie scoring record.
Augustus, who was the No. 1 overall pick herself, had held the record since 2006.
Single-season rookie scoring record
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.
