Caitlin Clark didn’t hide her frustrations during or after Wednesday’s loss to the bottom-place Dallas Wings.
She may have set a WNBA record with 19 assists in the game, but Clark said she made the mistake that dropped her Indiana Fever to 11-15.
“That late turnover is absolutely deadly,” Clark said of her costly mistake in the 101-93 loss.
With 45 seconds left, Clark trailed by five and the Wings employed a full-court press. She pushed the ball up the court, but was caught in a Dallas trap and eventually had the ball cleared by Odyssey Sims, who quickly called a timeout.
Clark was furious after the whistle. After initially hitting the hardwood in frustration, she returned to the bench, where she was given the bottle by a water boy and promptly smashed it on the sideline.
Clark returned to the bench after the turnover and promptly smashed her water bottle
Clark, left, is robbed of the ball by Dallas Wings’ Natasha Howard (6) and Odyssey Sims (2)
Clark, left, looks toward the bench after being stripped of the ball recovered by Sims
She then talked about the frustrating loss – and her new record.
“It was a balance thing: They were pressuring me so I got behind them and was able to attack, but then I tried to pull the ball out and lost my grip when I got poked from behind,” said Clark, who is now averaging a horrendous 5.6 turnovers per game.
‘That one is really deadly. … That one is really expensive, you can’t have that one.’
As for the assist record, Clark seemed to stumble upon it by accident. In fact, she is aware that she oversteps the mark in certain situations.
“I just try to set my teammates up for success,” Clark said. “I think I can almost catch up to them sometimes.
“There were probably a couple of times where instead of a pass that leads to a turnover that I might have, I could probably shoot the ball. Especially with [Aliyah Boston]. I just want to set her up so bad. My eyes are almost always on our post players.’
Clark finished with 24 points on 10 of 19 shooting. She enters the All-Star break averaging 17.1 points, 8.2 assists and a surprising 5.8 rebounds per game.
The WNBA is taking a month-long break ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.