Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever may have lost their final game of the WNBA’s regular season but it still proved to be another historic night for the rookie star.
The Washington Mystics moved Thursday night’s game against Indiana to the city’s Capital One Arena arena – home of the NBA’s Wizards – due to demand for tickets.
It proved to be the right decision as 20,711 fans – the largest crowd in WNBA history – turned out to watch them try to contain Clark and book a spot in the playoffs.
Clark endured a relatively quiet night by her standards, scoring just eight points with five rebounds and eight assists.
But that tally ensured she took another record. It meant Clark scored the most points by a point guard in a single season in WNBA history.
Caitlin Clark set more records Thursday night as the Indiana Fever played in Washington, D.C.
20,711 fans – the largest crowd in WNBA history – turned out to watch the Mystics play Clark
Clark had a largely quiet night, with the Fever already through to the WNBA playoffs
She also passed WNBA legend Diana Taurasi for the second most 3-pointers made in a single-season in WNBA history.
The Mystics needed a win and some help in Thursday’s regular-season finale to make the playoffs. They took care of business, beating the Fever 92-91 win, but they crashed out of playoff contention.
The Chicago Sky’s 87-54 loss at the Connecticut Sun secured the eighth and final playoff spot for the Atlanta Dream, whom the Mystics trailed by one game entering Thursday.
The Mystics nonetheless capped their season with perhaps their most impressive win.
Washington trailed 20-2 midway through the first quarter before storming back to tie the game 24-24 early in the second.
Ariel Atkins scored 11 points in the second quarter to propel the Mystics ahead 52-45 at halftime.
Sika Kone finished with game highs of 20 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Washington, which led by as many as 17 in the second half before Indiana ignited a 22-8 run to pull within a point in the final minute.
The Fever, making their first playoff appearance since 2016, will face the Sun in the best-of-three first round.
