WNBA award voters, regardless of who they pick, will be able to say the following when it comes time to choose between Indiana‘s Caitlin Clark and Chicago‘s Angel Reese in this season’s rookie of the year balloting:
“She did things the league has never seen before,” one said.
The latest example of that came Friday night, when Clark and Reese went head-to-head for the fourth and final time in this regular season. The game, and the individual race, were both one-sided: Indiana won 100-81, Clark leading the way with 31.0 points and 12 assists — the first such game in WNBA history.
Clark has said she doesn’t fixate on individual awards, but her game Friday night certainly suggested that she’s the runaway favorite for rookie of the year; BetMGM Sportsbook recently listed her odds of winning the award at -5,000, which means oddsmakers consider her a virtual lock.
Indiana went 3-1 against Chicago this season, with Clark (20.5 points, 10 assists per game) having the stats edge over Reese (13.5 points, 13.3 rebounds per game) in those meetings. And the Fever are now 16-16, while the Sky are 11-20.
A look inside the numbers:
For Clark, a WNBA season like none other
Clark’s averages for the season to this point: 18.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists per game.
That’s never been done over a full WNBA season. By anyone, rookie or otherwise.
For context, only two other players — Sabrina Ionescu (twice) and Alyssa Thomas — have averaged 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and five assists over a full season. Candace Parker had averages of 19.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 2015 but appeared in only 16 games.
Clark also has the WNBA record for 3-pointers made by a rookie, 93 and counting, and has a shot at the league’s single-season record of 128 by Ionescu in 2023. Only six players in WNBA history have made 100 3s in a season; at her current pace, Clark is two or three games from hitting that milestone.
Clark also has 14 games of 20 or more points this season. Everyone else in the rookie class, combined, had nine entering Saturday.
A record rebound pace for Reese
Yes, much gets made about how Reese has a penchant for rebounding her own misses; it happened a nearly unbelievable four times in one possession against Las Vegas on Aug. 25.
Regardless, she’s grabbing more boards per game than anyone in WNBA history.
At 12.9 per game, she’s in position to break the WNBA record for rebounds per contest. Sylvia Fowles grabbed 11.9 per game in 2018. That’s a significant…
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