UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Alyssa Thomas took back the WNBA single-season assist record, topping Caitlin Clark’s mark of 337 set last season.
Thomas needed six assists coming into Saturday’s game against the Connecticut Sun, for whom she starred for so many years before leaving for the Phoenix Mercury this season as a free agent. She got the record-breaking assist on a 3-pointer by Kathryn Westbeld in the corner with 4:45 left in the second quarter.
Thomas first set the record in 2023 with 316 assists when she played for Connecticut. Clark broke it a year later as a rookie. Now the 33-year-old Thomas, who also holds the WNBA record for triple-doubles in a season and career, has it back again. She needed only 37 games to reclaim the mark.
What’s most impressive about Thomas’ accomplishment is that she has done it from the forward position. Ever since her time with the Sun, Thomas has been a point-forward. Many of her assists this year have come on 3-pointers with nearly half of them coming on shots from behind the arc.
She is seventh on the WNBA career assist list with more than 1,800 assists — the only forward in the top 10.
Thomas has averaged a career-best 9.2 assists per game this season, which is short of Courtney Vandersloot’s record of 9.95 set in 2020.