Caitlin Clark’s Career Night Was the Best All-Around Performance in WNBA History

Clark had 45 points, 10 assists, four steals and two blocks in a win over the Storm on Friday.

Caitlin Clark had 45 points and 10 assists in a Fever win over the Storm | A.J. Mast/NBAE via Getty Images

On a night where Caitlin Clark scored a career-high 45 points, it was what she did elsewhere to impact the game that stood out.

In a tied game at 102 points apiece with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, Clark chased down Seattle’s star rookie Flau’jae Johnson to stop a potential go-ahead basket for the Storm. It was a bang-bang play and Clark may have gotten away with some contact, self-admittedly. The effort, however, was the culmination of a standout night in every aspect of the game.

On the other end of the floor, she nailed a step-back three-pointer to score her 41st point of the night and give the Fever the lead which they never gave back. The shot sealed the first 40-point, 10-assist game in WNBA history.

CAITLIN. CLARK. FOR. 41. POINTS. 🔥🔥

She drains this step back triple to not only bring her to her NEW career high in PTS, but also bring the @IndianaFever to the lead (105-102)! https://t.co/tMM9GBzEAv pic.twitter.com/rwQjyWRkAl

— WNBA (@WNBA) July 18, 2026

She wasn’t done there as she got to the free-throw line a couple more times to end the game in a 110–107 Fever win as she finished with 45 points, 10 assists, four steals and two blocks. She shot 11-for-18 from the field, 6-for-10 from three-point range and 17-for-19 from the foul line. Her 10 assists came with just four turnovers, too.

“I feel like some nights you know you have it even before the ball tips,” Clark said postgame, “and I felt like it was going to be one of those for me.”

It’s not the best scoring performance in WNBA history—A’ja Wilson, Marina Mabrey and Liz Cambage still share that honor—but the sheer volume of points Clark created while also making a significant impact defensively makes the her night the most complete performance the league has ever seen.

Where Caitlin Clark’s 45-point, 10-assist game stacks up in WNBA history

Caitlin Clark set a franchise record in her 45-point game | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Clark recorded the first 40-point, 10-assist and 45-point, 10-assist game in WNBA history. She smashed her previous career-high by 10 points and fell nine points shy of owning the best scoring game ever. With six threes on the night, she became the fastest player to reach 200 threes. Kelsey Mitchell added 30 more points for the Fever, which made her and Clark’s 75 combined points the most by a duo in franchise history.

Clark did all of that in just 29 minutes of play. She was on a minutes restriction after she returned from a back injury on July 8 and struggled to get it going from the field in the three previous games since her return. Safe to say the monkey is off her back.

HAVE A NIGHT, @CaitlinClark22!

45 PTS (career-high)
10 AST
4 STL
2 BLK
6-10 3PM
11-18 FGM
IND W

She’s the first player in WNBA history to record 40+ PTS and 10+ AST in a game 🤯🚨 pic.twitter.com/191USjdrjn

— NBA (@NBA) July 18, 2026

Her 45 points ties the ninth-most in a game in WNBA history, but no player who had a better scoring game recorded as many assists. Wilson, Mabrey and Cambage hold the record with 53 points. Wilson didn’t have an assist in her 53-point game, while Mabrey and Cambage had two dimes apiece in their big nights. Cambage did have a double-double with 10 rebounds while adding five blocks. Wilson grabbed seven rebounds and swatted four shots in her big game.

The best comparison to Clark’s signature performance comes from the legendary Diana Taurasi. She had 47 points, nine assists and six rebounds with two stocks (steals plus blocks) back in 2006. While Clark wasn’t as active on the glass, the combination of offensive generation with game-changing defensive plays puts her performance right up there as one of, if not the greatest all-around games the WNBA has ever seen.

“That was a heck of a defensive play,” Fever coach Stephanie White said of Clark’s strip on Johnson. “Not just to get a hand on it and strip it, but then to maintain our possession. It was big.

“… I think her confidence is growing on that end of the floor. She knows that she’s plenty capable, and she’s able to make momentum-changing plays, and that was another one of them.”

The Fever have struggled defensively this season, their defensive rating of 107.3 is ninth in the league. Indiana’s explosive offense helps offset that at times, but on lot of nights, the team simply gave up too many points to win games. The defense has turned a corner recently; Indiana has allowed 100 or more points in just two of its past seven games.

All-Star center Aliyah Boston was out for Friday’s win over the Storm due to a lower leg injury, which made the defensive end of the floor all the more critical. Makayla Timpson came up big in a spot start against Seattle’s star frontcourt duo in Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam. If Clark didn’t step up defensively herself, though, the game likely would’ve ended differently. Indiana still allowed 107 points, but Clark’s big defensive play created a five-point swing that turned into a game-winning sequence for the Fever.

Forty-five points and 10 assists sounds a lot better in a win. And it was the little things that Clark did that made the Fever emerge victorious in what will be remembered as one of the most complete performances the WNBA has ever seen.

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