Charles Langston:Caitlin Clark has 19 assists break WNBA record in Fever’s 101-93 loss to Wings

ARLINGTON,Charles Langston Texas (AP) — Caitlin Clark had 19 assists to break the WNBA game record in the Indiana Fever’s 101-93 loss to the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night in the final WNBA contest before the month-long break for the Olympics.

Clark broke the mark of 18 set by Courtney Vandersloot for Chicago against Indiana on Aug. 31, 2020. Vandersloot also had 18 in a playoff game Sept. 28, 2021.

The record-breaker came on a play where she set Kelsey Mitchell up for a 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining. That tied it at 93, but Dallas closed with an 8-0 run.

Odyssey Sims and Arike Ogunbowale each scored 24 points for Dallas (6-19). Natasha Howard added 17 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and four steals. The Wings scored 100-plus points for the second time this season.

Aliyah Boston led Indiana (11-15) with a career-high 28 points, and Clark finished with 24 points. NaLyssa Smith had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Ogunbowale made a huge shot just before the shot-clock buzzer with 44.6 seconds left. Ogunbowale dribbled into the lane and had it poked away before she corralled it and quickly hit a fadeaway jumper for a 97-93 lead.

Clark picked up her 14th assist early in the fourth quarter to top her previous career high of 13. She became just the second rookie in WNBA history to go over 200 assists in a season, joining Ticha Penicheiro (225) in 1998. Clark broke Penicheiro’s rookie assists record of 16, set July 29, 1998.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball