TORONTO (AP) – Kelsey Mitchell walked into a postgame celebration without realizing she was the guest of honor.
Mitchell scored 33 points to set a WNBA season scoring record Friday night in a 103-85 victory over the Toronto Tempo.
With a 3-pointer in the third quarter, Mitchell surpassed A’ja Wilson’s previous record of 1,021 points scored for Las Vegas in 2024. Mitchell now has 1,034 points this season.
When confetti rained down as she entered the Fever locker room, Mitchell’s first thought was that coach Stephanie White had passed another milestone.
“Then, out of nowhere, everybody started coming my way, and I was like “Oh,” and I put two together that it was for me,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell also scored at least 20 points for the 25th consecutive game, extending her WNBA record. She shot 12 for 17 and went 7 for 11 from beyond the arc.
“I don’t think people realize what she’s done this year and how insane it’s been,” teammate Caitlin Clark said about Mitchell. “It’s probably not talked about enough, especially in my opinion.”
Mitchell came in averaging 25 points per game. Only Wilson (26.1) is averaging more this season.
“She’s playing at another level and it’s been really incredible to witness,” White said about Mitchell’s historic season. “I hope that we don’t take it for granted that what we’re witnessing is some unprecedented stuff.”
In her first game since helping the U. S. win gold at the women’s FIBA World Cup, Clark scored 28 points and matched a season high with 14 assists.
It was the tenth time this season that Clark has scored 25 or more points and had ten or more assists. That’s more times than any other WNBA player has ever done it over their entire career.
Indiana improved to 27-14 with three games remaining in the regular season, matching Atlanta’s record. Las Vegas, Atlanta and Indiana are all competing for home-court advantage in the opening round.
“Our goal is to gain homecourt advantage because that is really important, especially in that three-game series,” Clark said.
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