Olivia Miles Breaks Caitlin Clark's Scoring Record, Makes WNBA History During Rookie Season for Lynx
Minnesota Lynx star Olivia Miles made history in Sunday's game against the Connecticut sun.
Minnesota Lynx star Olivia Miles made history in Sunday's game against the Connecticut sun.
The All-Star guard scored her 770th and 771st points of the 2026 WNBA season, breaking the rookie record set by the Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark in 2024.
A lot of single-season marks have fallen over the last few years with the WNBA expanding the schedule. Clark made three more appearances than Seimone Augustus when she set the rookie scoring mark in 2006.
Sunday was Miles' 40th game, matching Clark's total from 2024.
It's not as if the former Notre Dame and TCU standout flew under the radar coming into the 2026 WNBA draft. She almost certainly would've been a lottery pick in 2025 if she had declared, and she solidified her stock during her lone season with the Horned Frogs.
Nobody foresaw Miles making the kind of impact she has, though. Entering Sunday, she was averaging 19.7 points on 48.8 percent shooting along with 4.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.3 steals.
Beyond the raw numbers, Miles has influenced winning basketball in a way you typically don't see from first-year players, especially first-year guards. Minnesota owned the league's best record (21-6) before franchise cornerstone Napheesa Collier finally returned from injury on July 22.
Were it not for the Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson, Miles would probably be the MVP favorite. Alas, she'll have to settle for Rookie of the Year and a first team All-WNBA nod.
The regular season will increase from 44 games to 50 starting in 2027, so Miles' scoring record may not hold forever. But she's having the kind of debut campaign that will be remembered for a long time.
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