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Caitlin Clark sets WNBA single-season assists record

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Caitlin Clark sets WNBA single-season assists record

The records keep on coming for Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark.

Having already broken the record for most assists in a single game and assists by a rookie in their debut season, Clark set the WNBA single-season assists record Friday against the Las Vegas Aces.

Clark needed four assists to tie the prior record (316), which Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas set last season. Clark broke the record in the second quarter when she found Kelsey Mitchell, who drained a 3 pointer. Clark finished with nine assists as the Fever lost 78-74 to the Aces, bringing her total to 321 on the season.

That another single-season record fell on Friday night was fitting. On Wednesday night, when the Fever and Aces matched up for the first time this week, Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson set a new single-season points mark. Countless other WNBA records have been reset over the last two seasons since the regular season expanded to 40 games.

“You’re just going to continue to see records be taken down, but also I think really good basketball, and that’s why it’s been so fun to watch,” Clark said postgame when asked about the records broken in the WNBA this season.

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When the WNBA began in 1997, the season was 28 games long. The next year it was 30 games, then the year after that, 32, which lasted through 2002. The regular season had 34 games from 2003 to 2019. Courtney Vandersloot tallied 300 assists in 2019 and had a record of 258 in 2018, but before those two standout seasons, a player hadn’t recorded more than 250 assists since 2000. Ticha Penicheiro, who had the prior single-season rookie assist record, recorded 236 assists in 2000.

Clark has set countless other records this season. She recorded the first triple-double for a rookie in WNBA history in early July against the New York Liberty. In late August, she set the rookie 3-point single-season record against the Atlanta Dream. Clark became the first rookie in WNBA history to record 400 points, 100 rebounds and 150 assists in a season, and she has recorded the most 15-point 5-assist games in a season.

She could make more history, too, including the rookie scoring record for points in a season, a mark set by Seimone Augustus in 2006 when she scored 744 points — albeit in 34 games.

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Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking WNBA season: The history she’s made and the marks she’s chasing

As notable as any individual statistics, Indiana entered Friday night’s contest having won eight of its last 11 games, with the best offensive rating of any team in the league since the All-Star break. After a 2-9 start, the Fever have also climbed to the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. They have already clinched a playoff berth — their first since 2016 — and could finish with their first winning season since 2015, when they made the WNBA Finals.

“It’s definitely a big moment for this place, but at the same time, I came in with the expectation this was going to happen,” Clark said of guiding Indiana back to the postseason. “For me, this isn’t a party. It’s great, I feel like it’s a great accomplishment, but there’s much more left to be done.”

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(Photo: Justin Casterline / NBAE via Getty Images)

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Try This Quiz on Thrilling Books That Became Popular Movies

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Try This Quiz on Thrilling Books That Became Popular Movies

Welcome to Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s regular multiple-choice quiz about printed works that have gone on to find new life as movies, television shows, theatrical productions and more. This week’s challenge highlights thrillers first published as novels (or graphic novels) that were adapted into popular films. Just tap or click your answers to the five questions below. And scroll down after you finish the last question for links to the books and their screen versions.

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Test Your Knowledge of the Authors and Events That Helped Shape the United States

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Test Your Knowledge of the Authors and Events That Helped Shape the United States

Welcome to Lit Trivia, the Book Review’s regular quiz about books, authors and literary culture. In honor of Gen. George Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22, this week’s super-size challenge is focused on the literature and history related to the American Revolution. In the 10 multiple-choice questions below, tap or click on the answer you think is correct. After the last question, you’ll find links to exhibits, books and other materials related to this intense chapter in the country’s story, including an award-winning biography of the general and first U.S. president.

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Video: How Much Do You Know About Romance Books?

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Video: How Much Do You Know About Romance Books?

Let’s play romance roulette. No genre has dominated the books world in the last few years. Like romance, it accounts for the biggest percentage of book sales, their avid fan bases. Everyone has been talking about romance as a Book Review editor and as a fan of the genre myself, I put together a to z glossary of 101 terms that you should know if you want to understand the world of romance are cinnamon roll. You may think a cinnamon roll is a delicious breakfast treat, but in a romance novel, this refers to a typically male character who is so sweet and tender and precious that you just want to protect him and his beautiful heart from the world. Ooh, a rake. This is basically the Playboy of historical romance. He defies societal rules. He drinks, he gambles. He’s out on the town all night and is a very prolific lover with a bit of a reputation as a ladies’ man. FEI these are super strong, super sexy, super powerful, immortal, fairy like creatures. One of my favorite discoveries in terms that I learned was stern brunch daddy. A lot of daddy’s usually a male love interest who seems very intimidating and alpha, but then turns out to be a total softie who just wants to make his love interest brunch. I think there’s a misconception that because these books can follow these typical patterns, that they can be predictable and boring. But I think what makes a really great romance novel is the way that these writers use the tropes in interesting ways, or subvert them. If you can think of it, there’s probably a romance novel about it. Oops, there’s only one bed. This is one of my personal favorite tropes is a twist on forced proximity. Characters find themselves in very close quarters, where inevitably sparks start to fly. Why choose is the porkulus dose of the romance world. Sometimes the best way to resolve a love triangle is by turning it into a circle, where everyone is invited to play. Oops, we lost one spice level. There’s a really wide spectrum. You can range from really low heat or no spice, what might also be called kisses. Only then you start to get into what we call closed door or fade to Black. These books go right up to the moment of intimacy, and then you get into what we call open door, which is more explicit. And sometimes these can get very high heat or spicy and even start verging into kink. There’s one thing that almost every romance novel has in common. It’s that no matter what the characters get up to in the end, it ends with a happily ever after. I say almost every romance novel. Sometimes you’re just happy for now.

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