UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Alyssa Thomas took back the WNBA single-season assist record from Caitlin Clark in a Phoenix Mercury 87-84 loss against the Connecticut Sun on Saturday.
Thomas needed six assists — Clark’s 2024 mark was 337 assists — coming into the game against Connecticut, where she starred for so many years before leaving for Phoenix this season as a free agent. She got the record-breaking one passing to Kathryn Westbeld for a corner 3-pointer with 4:45 left in the second quarter.
BREAKIN’ RECORDS IS WHAT SHE DOES 👏
With her 6th assist of the game, Alyssa Thomas (338) breaks Caitlin Clark’s single-season assists record of 337 set back in 2024!
PHX-CON | League Pass pic.twitter.com/SsGJt80pzQ
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 6, 2025
The Sun ended the Phoenix six-game winning streak and dealt a blow to the Mercury’s hopes of claiming the second seed for the upcoming playoffs. With two regular season games remaining, Phoenix (27-15) sits in fourth, 0.5 games behind the No. 3-seed Las Vegas Aces and one game behind No. 2-seed Atlanta Dream.
The Dream hold the tiebreaker over the Mercury, having won all three contests in the season series.
She’s seventh on the league’s career assist list with more than 1,800 assists and the only forward in the top 10.
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Thomas has averaged a career-best 9.2 assists this season, which is short of Courtney Vandersloot’s record of 9.95 set in 2020.
Sun rookie Leila Lacan, who joined the Sun midway through the season, scored six points in the last 30 seconds. She drove the lane for an 83-81 lead with 27.8 seconds to go and added two free throws with 9.7 seconds left. After a Satou Sabally 3-pointer, she closed the scoring with 3.7 seconds left with two more free throws.
Marina Mabrey scored 23 points for Connecticut (11-31) and Lecan had 14. Veteran Tina Charles, whose life-saving charity was honored before the game bringing her to tears, had 22 points and 10 rebounds. Rookie Aneesah Morow had nine points and 13 rebounds.
Kahleah Copper scored 18 points for the Mercury, who fell a game behind Atlanta, which holds the tiebreaker, for the second seed with two games to go. Thomas had 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Sami Whitcomb scored 13 and Sabally 11.
There were 18 lead changes and never a double-figure lead.
Up next for Alyssa Thomas, Mercury
Phoenix plays host to the Los Angeles Sparks (19-22) on Tuesday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. MST and can be watched on Arizona’s Family 3TV.
from Arizona Sports https://ift.tt/40R97rK
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