A new record for the history books, a win in the ledger, and a standing ovation. The Indiana Fever won last night. But Caitlin Clark was the only name in everyone’s mouth. And why not? The golden rookie once again proved her worth, taking down the league’s top-seeded team, New York Liberty. While one of the interesting points about this matchup was that this was their last meeting for the regular season, the day was a lot more special for the first-overall pick.

She became the first rookie in league history to record a triple-double. However, that wasn’t the only talking point from a memorable game. Here is how Caitlin Clark impacted Indiana vs New York with five interesting facts.

1. Caitlin Clark creates a WNBA milestone

As mentioned above, Caitlin Clark became the first-ever WNBA rookie to lodge a triple-double in the 27-year history of the league. She also created franchise history by becoming the first player to have a triple-double in 24 years of its establishment. The feat came after the rookie flirted with it in multiple previous games. The No. 22 entered the floor in the fourth quarter with a double-double set.

When the game clock read 7:07 minutes left for the play, the 6-ft guard grabbed a defensive rebound from a missed shot by Liberty’s Kayla Thornton. Consequently, the entire arena roared into chants as she received a standing ovation from an almost sold-out crowd of 17,274 fans.

For her achievement, the ever-so-humble rookie gave credit to her team. She said, “Obviously, it’s cool. My teammates have been finishing the ball at a really, really high rate. My assist numbers, that’s because of them. I’m just happy we won.”

In her time in Iowa, we all saw the Des Moines native break numerous records. Whether you see her freshman season or her senior year, she accumulated 46 awards and led the NCAA in scoring and assists three times each. Moreover, she holds the record for the most triple-doubles in the Big-10 conference with 17. But to see her slowly translate that same Caitlin Clark in the professional league is breathtaking in the least.

2. The rookie leaves the established stars and legends behind

After yesterday’s game, Caitlin Clark tallies 355 points and 162 assists. With these numbers in her first 22 games, she surpassed Sue Bird. The Seattle Storm legend achieved the 350+ points and 150+ assists mark in her 25th game in the WNBA. Interestingly, another facet where the former Hawkeye left Bird behind is for most double-doubles with assists as a rookie.

Caitlin Clark already stands at 4 such games while Bird had 2 such games. Interestingly, she recorded all four of these double-doubles in her last five games, three of which were against the league’s leading teams. Furthermore, Clark also became the youngest player to ever record a triple-double. Before her, it was Sabrina Ionescu’s achievement. She did it at the age of 23 years and 163 days, while the Iowa alum did it at 22 years and 166 days.

Additionally, the Fever star is also already on the all-time rookie assist leaders list with 162 assists. Yesterday, she surpassed Jackie Young of the Aces, who recently showed a friendly approach towards her. Previously, the 2022 WNBA Most Improved Player held the sixth spot with 153 assists. Next on Clark’s hit list would be Angel Reese’s head coach Teresa Weatherspoon with 173 all-time assists in rookie season. 4x All-Star Ticha Penicheiro leads this list with 225 assists.

3. Caitlin Clark led Indiana to a win, quite literally!

In the 83-78 win, the No. 22 in the Fever jersey was responsible for 46 of those points. She added 19 points while going 7-17 from the field and 3-12 from deep. Additionally, the team amassed 27 points through her 13 assists throughout the game. This makes up for over 55% of the total score. All in all, Clark came into the matchup with a mission.

From the very first whistle of the game, Caitlin Clark set the pace and gave Indiana an early 7-0 lead. In these, 5 points came from her shooting while 2 points came from her assist to Aliyah Boston. Indiana led throughout the first half, heading to the locker room with a 39-38 lead. However, New York roared back to take the lead after the break, scoring 11 points in a stretch of the late third to the early fourth quarter.

The Fever flipped a switch in the fourth quarter, outscoring New York 28-16. Out of these 28, Clark scored 6 and assisted 3 times. Indiana managed to avoid a season-series sweep against the Liberty, who defeated them on three previous occasions this season.

4. Overall numbers vs New York

One of the biggest problems, apart from the league’s physicality, has been the turnovers for Caitlin Clark. However, in three of the four games against Sabrina Ionescu’s team, she has had the lowest turnovers of her career. In the first three games, she had 14 turnovers combined. But yesterday, it came down to just four. Her other numbers in the first three games vs yesterday’s game speak volumes about her growth in the league.

Caitlin Clark had 34 points, 15 rebounds, and 19 assists in total for the first three matchups between the teams. Yesterday, she almost doubled that tally with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists. This became the best performance so far for the rookie against the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup champions.

5. The lucky number “22”

There is a huge weightage that any player’s jersey number can hold for them. But for Caitlin Clark, it was rather simple. For choosing the now dazzling No. 22, she had mentioned before Iowa’s Final Four matchup this year, “Honestly I’m not a very creative person, I was born on Jan. 22, so it’s what I went with when I was about 5 years old.”

However, the number has been quite lucky for the rookie as she mentioned on May 22, 2024. While the team did not win over the star-studded Seattle Storm then, the 2x National Player of the Year confessed that it was a fortunate number for her. Proving the sentiment correct, the Fever handed a huge upset to the visiting New York in the guard’s 22nd game of her WNBA career.

It would have been certainly more eye-catching if she had scored 22 points as well like she did in the team’s second meeting with the Liberty back on May 18, 2024. However, a big win and an even bigger record is certainly just the beginning for the freshly minted All-Star rookie.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.