Mitchell Passes Wilson With Third-Quarter Three
Kelsey Mitchell set the WNBA single-season scoring record Friday night at Coca-Cola Coliseum, passing A'ja Wilson with a 24-foot three-pointer off a Caitlin Clark assist with 7:57 left in the third quarter. Mitchell finished with 33 points in the Indiana Fever's 103-85 win over the Toronto Tempo and now has 1,034 points this season. Wilson scored 1,021 for the Las Vegas Aces in 2024 over 38 games.[S1]
Mitchell shot 12-of-17 from the field and 7-of-11 from three-point range. Her 128 three-pointers this season are a franchise record. She entered Friday averaging 25 points per game, second in the league behind Wilson's 26.1. Mitchell and Wilson are the only players in WNBA history with at least 1,000 points in a single season, and the two are in a race for the 2026 scoring title.[S1][S2]
Mitchell walked into a celebration in the Fever locker room without knowing it was for her. When confetti came down as she walked in, her first thought was that Fever coach Stephanie White had reached another milestone, according to The Associated Press. Mitchell said she only found out seven minutes earlier and that it was still settling in, adding that she thinks about all the times she was not supposed to be in those rooms and that at one point the team was 6-27, which took a lot of work to get past.[S1]
Clark Returns With 28 Points and 14 Assists
Caitlin Clark had 28 points and 14 assists in her first game since the FIBA Women's World Cup. The assist total matched her season high, which she also reached in a June 16 home win over Toronto. She shot 7-of-15 from the field, 2-of-8 from three-point range, and 12-of-12 at the free throw line. Team USA beat France 97-79 in the gold medal game Sept. 13 in Berlin, where Clark came off the bench for 12 points and 3 assists. Aliyah Boston and White also returned from the gold medal run.[S1]
It was the 10th time this season Clark has scored at least 25 points with at least 10 assists, a mark no other WNBA player has reached that many times over an entire career. The game was also her 14th double-double of the season and the 20th time this season she and Mitchell each scored 20 or more. Clark said Mitchell is making 47% of her three-point attempts and that people do not realize how insane Mitchell's year has been, adding that Mitchell is not shooting layups but contested midrange jump shots and getting downhill.[S1]
Fever Pull Away After Tempo Rally
Indiana led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but Toronto closed the second quarter on a 14-1 run and went into the break down 53-50. The Tempo took their first lead with 8:14 left in the third quarter, and the lead changed hands eight times in that period alone. Indiana carried a 79-73 lead into the fourth and outscored Toronto 24-12 the rest of the way. Clark was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul with 9:25 remaining after making contact with Isabelle Harrison's face on a drive.[S1]
Laura Juskaite led Toronto with 22 points. Kiki Rice had 18, while Harrison and Temi Fagbenle each scored 16. The Tempo lost their fifth straight game and have gone 2-21 since opening their inaugural season 9-9. Marina Mabrey did not play; on Wednesday the team said she will miss the final four games of the season with a right adductor injury, her last appearance coming Aug. 18 in a home loss to Indiana. Toronto was also without Brittney Sykes, Aneesah Morrow, and Maria Conde.[S1]
Fever Chase Home-Court Advantage
The win was Indiana's eighth in 10 games. At 27-14, the Fever have the same record as the Atlanta Dream with three games left in the regular season. Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Indiana are all chasing home-court advantage in the opening round, which goes to the top four seeds. Clark said the goal is to gain home-court advantage because it is really important, especially in that three-game series. Toronto finishes its home schedule Sunday against the New York Liberty.[S1]
Las Vegas (28-13) is one game up in the loss column on the Fever (26-14) entering play on Friday. Wilson entered Friday just 10 points behind Mitchell (1,001 to 991), but the Las Vegas Aces had already played one more game than the Fever. Both players figure to play out the final three games of the regular season with their teams fighting for playoff position.[S2]
