Olivia Miles takes Caitlin Clark’s rookie record before Fever face their biggest test against Lynx
Indiana has an opportunity to demonstrate its playoff strength against the WNBA’s best team
O livia Miles has taken one of Caitlin Clark’s most important WNBA records . The Minnesota Lynx guard surpassed the 769 points Clark scored during her historic 2024 rookie season, adding another chapter to the rapid rise of the league’s newest young star.
Miles broke the record Sunday while producing 21 points , six assists, three rebounds and two steals in Minnesota’s 101-89 victory over Connecticut . The performance took her season total to 790 points and helped the Lynx end a three-game losing streak.
Now Clark and the Indiana Fever face Miles’ Lynx in a game that could reveal how powerful they really are before the playoffs. Minnesota owns the WNBA’s best record at 32-10, while Indiana enters at 27-15 and remains trapped in a crowded battle for playoff positioning.
Caitlin Clark faces the WNBA’s strongest team without Olivia Miles
The highly anticipated individual matchup will not happen Tuesday night. Minnesota announced that Miles will miss the game with a left calf injury . The team has not revealed the severity of the problem or whether she could return when the Lynx and Fever meet again Thursday in Minneapolis.
Her absence does not make Minnesota an easy opponent. Napheesa Collier leads an experienced roster built to compete for a championship , and one victory in the final two games against Indiana would secure the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Indiana needs a response after its painful 93-77 loss to Washington. Clark scored 25 points and recorded five assists, but she described the Fever’s defense as “pitiful.” Facing the league leader gives Indiana an immediate opportunity to show that the defeat was a warning rather than a sign of deeper problems.
Miles arrived in Minnesota as the No. 2 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft after four seasons at Notre Dame and one at TCU. Her court vision, scoring ability and control of the offense quickly transformed her from a promising rookie into Minnesota’s leading scorer and one of the league’s most important young guards.
Taking Clark’s scoring record does not mean Miles has erased everything she accomplished. Clark still owns major rookie marks involving assists and three-point shooting , and she established her scoring total during a 40-game season, compared with the current 44-game schedule. But Miles has made one thing clear: Clark is no longer the only young guard capable of changing the WNBA’s record book.
