Fever vs. Storm: Caitlin Clark's 45 and 10 Is the First 40-Point, 10-Assist Game in WNBA History

Caitlin Clark walked into Friday night 3 of 19 from three over her previous three games. She walked out having done something nobody in WNBA history had ever done, and she did it in 29 minutes.

Clark scored 45 points, a career high and a Fever franchise record, and handed out 10 assists for the first 40-point, 10-assist game in league history, as the Indiana Fever rallied past the Seattle Storm 110-107 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Along the way she became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 200 career threes. It was, by any measure, a bit much.

A Shootout That Took a Few Wrong Turns

The first quarter belonged to somebody else. Kelsey Mitchell went nuclear for 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting, the second-most points by a player in one quarter in franchise history, and Clark fed the machine with five assists as Indiana went up 37-26. In the second, Clark found her own lane, scoring 14 of the Fever's 22 points on just three field-goal attempts because she kept getting to the line.

The lead reached 17 before Seattle answered, using a 9-0 run to turn 55-41 into 55-50, and it was 59-56 Indiana at halftime. Then the Storm flipped the script completely. Seattle scored 32 in the third, kept living in the paint and took an 88-82 lead into the final period. Dominique Malonga was everywhere. A team sitting at six wins was very much on its way to spoiling the party, and the lead grew to eight in the fourth.

Clark, who had 29 points through three quarters and had been on a minutes restriction since coming back from a back injury, had other plans. "There was no way I was ever coming out of the game in the fourth quarter," she said. "It didn't matter, I would have played with one leg."

Sixteen in the Fourth

She played all but 26 seconds of that fourth and scored 16 in it. A short bucket at 3:30 pulled Indiana within 98-96. A 32-foot step-back at 2:23 made it 100-99 Seattle, and it's worth pausing on that for a second, because that's a shot a normal person takes only in the driveway. Monique Billings then finished a three-point play at 1:11 to tie it at 102.

The next sequence decided it. Flau'jae Johnson came up with a steal and took off on a breakaway, and Clark chased her down from behind, got a hand on the ball and kept it with Indiana. "That was a heck of a defensive play," Stephanie White said. On the other end, Clark hit a 25-foot step-back with 39.1 seconds left to put the Fever up 105-102, and they never gave it back. She then went 4 for 4 at the line in the final 17 seconds. Malonga scored twice inside to pull the Storm within one, first at 106-105 and then at 108-107, and both times Clark went to the line and answered.

The Full Damage Report

Her line needs its own paragraph: 45 points on 11-of-18 shooting, 6 of 10 from three, 17 of 19 at the line, 10 assists, four steals, two blocks and plus-16 in 29 minutes. The team says no player in WNBA history has ever scored more in a game while logging under 30 minutes. Those free throws were career highs too. The 200th three came in her 74th game, and the old standard, held by Katie Smith, was 81.

So how do you go from 3 of 19 to this? "You've just got to dig your feet in a little bit," she said. She also claims she saw it coming. "I feel like some nights you know you have it even before the ball tips," she said.

Mitchell was the perfect co-star, finishing with 30 on 13-of-25 shooting. Their combined 75 is the most by a duo in one game in Fever history, and that's before we mention Billings, who scored 16 on 5-of-7 shooting and 6 of 7 at the line. Makayla Timpson pulled down eight offensive rebounds and scored eight points.

Seattle deserves more than a footnote. Malonga had 28 points and 14 rebounds on 13-of-22 shooting, though six turnovers hurt. Flau'jae Johnson (16, six rebounds, six assists), Awa Fam (16 on 4-of-5 from deep), Natisha Hiedeman (15 and eight assists) and Jade Melbourne (15) made it five Storm starters in double figures. Hit 57% from the field, score 107 and lose: that's the sort of night that makes a coach stare at the ceiling.

Free Throws Beat the Paint

The numbers tell you exactly how Seattle lost a game it largely controlled inside. The Storm scored 66 points in the paint to Indiana's 44 and made seven more field goals. But the Fever made 28 of 31 at the line to Seattle's 13 of 18, a 15-point difference that wiped all of that out. Indiana also had 12 steals, and Seattle's turnovers became 22 Fever points.

Stats That Matter

• 28 of 31: Indiana at the line. Clark alone outscored the Storm there, 17-13.
• 66-44: Seattle in the paint, the reason this was ever in doubt.
• 75: Clark and Mitchell's combined points, a franchise record for a duo.
• 74: Games for Clark to reach 200 threes, seven fewer than the old record.

What It Means

Indiana moves to 15-10 and 9-5 at home, rebounding from Wednesday's 88-75 loss to Golden State. There's no rest for anyone, because the Liberty come to town on Saturday night for the second game of a back-to-back. Seattle falls to 6-21 and 2-13 on the road, with a fourth straight loss and six losses in its last seven games.

The Takeaway

Before the game, White thought Clark looked "bouncy," which is the kind of pregame scouting report you can only appreciate in hindsight. Her coach spent the night trying to keep track, and even she couldn't quite believe the final tally. "Looking down at the stat sheet, and I'm looking at different numbers, and I look down at the stat sheet at the end of the game and it's like, 'Holy (expletive). Forty-five and 10.' Just an absolutely incredible performance," White said. Yeah. That about covers it.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press and the Indiana Fever.