INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Caitlin Clark seemed 鈥渂ouncy鈥� to Indiana coach Stephanie White before the Fever faced the Seattle Storm on Friday night.
The sharpshooting star not too far removed from a back injury bounced right into the record books 鈥� her own, her team鈥檚 and the WNBA鈥檚.
Clark had the first 40-point game of her three-year career while helping rally the , scoring 45 points with 10 assists to become the first player with 40 or more points and 10 or more assists in a game in WNBA history.
Oh, and the scoring total was a franchise record.
鈥淚 feel like you just have to believe you鈥檙e going to have those type of nights,鈥� said Clark, who was 11 of 18 from the field, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range, and had two more career highs by going 17 of 19 on free throws. 鈥淎nd you have to visualize having those type of nights. I feel like that鈥檚 what I did.鈥�
It was Clark鈥檚 fourth game since returning from a two-week absence due to a back injury that sidelined her after a game against Phoenix in which she took a hit to the throat from Alyssa Thomas. The incident eventually led to a .
Because of a long break between games, Clark only missed two. She played a season-low 16 minutes in a 106-92 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks in her first game back.
Clark, who became the in the first half, played all but 26 seconds of the fourth quarter against the Storm and scored 16 points while finishing just shy of her first 30-minute game in almost a month.
With the score tied in the final minute after the Fever trailed by eight midway through the fourth quarter, Clark recovered to block a breakaway layup attempt by Flau鈥檍ae Johnson. She then hit the 3-pointer that put Indiana up for good at 105-102 and made all four of her free throws in the final 17 seconds.
鈥淚 told (White) at halftime I felt really good and I didn鈥檛 want to lose this game,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淚 can trust all the work I鈥檝e put in on my body. I鈥檝e spent a ton of time on it. I know I鈥檓 doing all the right things. There was no way I was ever coming out of the game in the fourth quarter.鈥�
Clark didn鈥檛 play the first back-to-back coming off her latest injury, and the Fever have their next one with a visit from the New York Liberty on Saturday night. Clark didn鈥檛 rule out playing in that one.
White wanted to spend a little time savoring this one.
鈥淪he does things that we haven鈥檛 seen,鈥� White said. 鈥淚n the moment, sometimes it鈥檚 surreal to see. Looking down at the stat sheet, and I鈥檓 looking at different numbers, and I look down at the stat sheet at the end of the game and it鈥檚 like, 鈥楬oly (expletive). Forty-five and 10.鈥� Just an absolutely incredible performance.鈥�
Clark鈥檚 career night came after she went 3 of 19 from 3-point range in the previous three games, dropping her shooting percentage from behind the arc to 32%. She finished the game one 3 shy of her career best.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e just got to dig your feet in a little bit,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淲hen it鈥檚 not going your way, nobody cares. Find a way to make it better and find a way to help your team win and make this team better.鈥�
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