Caitlin Clark Became The First WNBA Rookie With A Triple-Double As The Fever Beat The Liberty

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever got off to a rocky start to the season, as the young Fever squad led by the first overall pick faced an early gauntlet of tough teams and struggled to establish an identity or a rhythm over the course of a 1-8 start to the season.

However, since then, the team and the rookie star have both settled into a groove and are 8-5 over their last 13 games, climbing to eighth in the standings and have a real shot at a playoff berth midway through the season. It’s clear that the game has started to slow down a bit for Clark and she’s also learning her teammates better to get them the ball in their spots, as evidenced by four games with double-digit assists in the last five games (with none prior).

On Saturday afternoon, Clark and the Fever produced their most impressive performance of the season, both individually for the rookie star and as a team. Indiana picked up an impressive win at home over the top-seeded New York Liberty, giving them just their fourth loss of the season, and Clark became the first rookie to post a triple-double in league history (two games after coming up one rebound shy).

Clark led the Fever in all three categories with her 19 points, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds, with Aliyah Boston adding 18 points and eight rebounds, NaLyssa Smith putting up 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Kelsey Mitchell adding 14 points in support. After the game, Clark made sure to shout out her teammates, noting she can’t get a triple-double without their help and calling it a team effort.

Most importantly for Clark and the team, the win moved them to 9-13 on the season, and with four games left before the All-Star and Olympic break, they’ll have a chance to inch even closer to .500 before getting a month off.