Caitlin Clark sets career high with 45 points as Fever eke out win over WNBA-worst Storm

Caitlin Clark made history in a career night on Friday. It was just enough to prevent the Indiana Fever from taking a brutal loss.

The Fever star not only topped her career high with 45 points (up from her previous high of 35), she also become the first player in WNBA history to post at least 40 points and 10 assists in a single game. Her final line: 45 points on 11-of-18 shooting (6-of-10 from 3-point range), 10 assists, four steals and four turnovers.

Indiana needed nearly every one of those points in what should have been a comfortable win. Instead, it was a 110-107 win over the Storm, who still have the league’s worst record at 6-21.

The Fever held a lead as large as 17 points in the second quarter, but a pre-halftime collapse and brutal defensive third quarter left them down eight midway through the fourth. It was only one last push, with Clark leading the charge, that prevented them from a mortifying night on the road.

Clark did make some history during the second quarter with her second 3-point of the game. That shot gave her 200 3-pointers for her career in only 74 games, making her the fastest player in WNBA history to that mark. The previous record was Katie Smith with 81 games.

She would go on to post 16 points in the fourth quarter, including the free throws that helped seal the game.

It had been a frustrating few weeks for Clark entering Friday. She once again became a topic of national conversation on June 24, when a hard foul by Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas went unnoticed, then punished with a one-game suspension after the reported intervention of NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

That incident led to an airing of grievances from all corners, as well as a letter from 11 House Republicans threatening a crackdown against the WNBA if Clark continues to be fouled.

Clark missed two games over the following two weeks due to a back injury that had been lingering for a while. She struggled across three games after her return, averaging 11.3 points, 3.8 assists and 4 turnovers while shooting 35.1% from the field and 15.8% from 3-point range in that span.

Her most recent game saw her again complaining about missed calls by the officials, which she said left her playing with a contusion in her quad for the rest of the game.

She seems to be doing a bit better now.