Highlighting A Record-Breaking WNBA Season

Last Sunday (October 20th), the 28th season of the Women’s National Basketball Association came to an exciting close. The New York Liberty, led by Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu, captured their franchise’s first title in an exhilarating 5 game series against the Minnesota Lynx. The final game of the tightly contested matchup was the most viewed WNBA Finals game in 25 years. Viewership across the entire series doubled in comparison to last year, which speaks volumes to growing popularity of not only the WNBA, but women sports in general. The success of the Finals was just an extension of what took place during the regular season. A stacked rookie class including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink and more, brought a large number of new eyes with them from their respective collegiate programs. Coupling the excitement of their arrivals with the established culture the W already possessed did wonders for the league. The season that just concluded ended up as the most-viewed regular season ever. Ironically enough, the most watched game of the regular season was between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky, the teams Clark and Reese play for. Witnessing the two rookies revive their college rivalry (Clark and Reese played against each other four times in college) wasn’t the only reason fans tuned in this year. Coming into the season, the basketball world was eager to see if the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces could make it three in a row. Although they didn’t complete their mission, forward A’ja Wilson won her third MVP in dominant fashion. She became only the second player in league history to win the award unanimously (Houston Comets guard Cynthia Cooper did it in the WNBA’s inaugural season).

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All of the factors mentioned above and many more led to a historic record-breaking season for the WNBA. How many records were actually shattered on the court though? After the Finals ended, the good people at Action Network collected all the records that were broken this season (including the playoffs and Finals). Check out the women who etched their names into the history books below. Congrats to all of them and the WNBA for a ground-breaking season!

1. New York Liberty

• Now hold the record for the longest time between a team’s first WNBA finals appearance and their first win – they first appeared in the inaugural 1997 WNBA finals (and lost to Houston Comets) and finally won after 27 years in 2024 on their 6th appearance 
• Got rid of their record for the team with the most WNBA finals appearances without a victory – prior to 2024, they played in the finals 5 times without a win (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2023)

2. Minnesota Lynx

• Broke their tie with New York Liberty and now they are the sole holder of the record for the most appearances in the WNBA finals – the 2024 appearance was their 7th appearance (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2024) 

3. Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty)

FINALS

• Set the record for the most steals in a single WNBA finals game (7 steals)

4. Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury)

PLAYOFFS 

• Extended her record for the most points scored in the WNBA playoffs – her current total is 1486, adding 31 points scored in the 2024 playoffs
• Extended her record for the most total field goals made in the WNBA playoffs – her current total of field goals is 489 (+11 in 2024)
• Extended her record for the most total field goals attempts made in the WNBA playoffs – her total number of attempts is 1097 (+26 in 2024), with DeWanna Boner in 2nd place with 1028 attempts (+91 in 2024)
• Extended her record for the most total three-point field goals in the WNBA playoffs – her current total is 217 (+7 in 2024) – as well as the record for the most three-point field goals attempts (current total: 580, +18 attempts in 2024)
• Extended her record for the most turnovers in the WNBA playoffs – her current total is 202 turnovers (+7 turnovers in the 2024 playoffs)
• Extended her record for the most personal fouls – her total is 247 (+9 in 2024)

REGULAR SEASON

• Extended her record for the most career field goals and field goal attempts made – her current total of goals made is 3,341 (adding 172 field goals made in the 2024 season) and the total of field goal attempts is 7,868 (adding 430 attempts in the 2024 season)
• extended her record for the most 3-point field goals and 3-point attempts – her current total for 3-point field goals is 1,447 (+86 in 2024) and 4,014 3-point attempts (+258 in 2024) 
• extended her record for the most career free throws and free throws attempts – her current total of free throws is 2,517 (adding 108 free throws during the 2024 season) and the total for free throws attempts is 2,893 (adding 126 attempts during the 2024 season)

5. DeWanna Bonner (Connecticut Sun)

PLAYOFFS 

• Moved up from the 5th overall place to 2nd place, just behind Taurasi, with 1191 total points scored in the WNBA playoffs (+112 points scored in the 2024 playoffs)
• Entered the top 3 with 412 field goals (+36 in 2024), surpassing Maya Moore
• Broke the record for the most total games played in the WNBA playoffs – Boner played in 7 playoffs games in 2024, bringing her total to 87 and surpassing the previous record holder, Lindsay Whalen who participated in 82 playoffs games
• Broke the record for the most all-time defensive rebounds in the WNBA playoffs – Boner had 47 rebounds in 2024, bringing her total to 497 and surpassing the previous record holder, Candace Parker who had 485 rebounds
• Entered the top 3 of the all-time most steals (currently at #3 with 105 steals, adding 13 steals in 2024) and the most rebounds (currently at #3 with 593 rebounds, adding 55 rebounds in 2024) 
• Entered the top 3 of the overall ranking of the most free throws made in the WNBA playoffs, surpassing Lindsay Whalen – Boner is currently at #3 with 259 free throws (+26 in 2024 playoffs)

6. Courtney Vandersloot (New York Liberty)

PLAYOFFS 

• Broke the record for the most overall assists in the WNBA playoffs – Vandersloot’s current total is 390 assists (+ 28 assists in the 2024 playoffs), breaking the record of Sue Bird who had 364 assists

7. Jonquel Jones (New York Liberty)

PLAYOFFS 

• Moved from 10th place to 2nd place when it comes to total offensive rebounds in the WNBA playoffs – Jones’ current total of offensive rebounds is 149 (+27 in the 2024 playoffs)

8. Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever)

REGULAR SEASON

• Broke the record for the most assists in a WNBA game – Courtney Vandersloot (Chicago Sky) previously held the record with 18 assists and Clark had 19 assists in a game against Dallas in 2024; in the same game, Clark also tied the record for the most assists in a half of a single WNBA game (11)
• Broke the record for the most assists in a season with 337 assists – the record was previously held by Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun) with 316 assists in the 2023 season
• Broke the record for the most turnovers in a season with 223 turnovers – the record was previously held by Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun) with 137 turnovers in the 2023 season
• Broke the record for the most three-point shots attempted in a single season, with 355 attempts during the 2024 season – the record was previously held by Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings) with 341 3-point attempts in 2023
• Broke the record for the most points in a rookie season with 769 points in the 2024 season – the record was previously held by Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx) with 744 points in the 2006 season 
• Broke the record for the most 3-point field goals in a rookie season with 122 3-point field goals made in the 2024 season – the record was previously held by Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream) with 85 3-point field goals made in the 2022 season 
• Tied the record for the most 3-point field goals made by rookie in a single game (7) – she tied the record of Crystal Robinson (New York Liberty) from 1999
•  Tied the record for the most 3-point field goals made in first career game (4 in the game against Connecticut Sun) – she tied the record of Edna Campbell (Phoenix Mercury, 1999) and Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx, 2011)
• Broke the record for the most assists in a rookie season with 337 assists – the record was previously held by Ticha Penicheiro (Sacramento Monarchs) with 225 assists in the 1998 season; Clark also broke Penicheiro’s record for the highest average assists per game in a rookie season since Clark’s average was 8.4 in the 2024 season and Penicheiro’s average was 7.5 in the 1998 season
• Became the first rookie with 2 triple-doubles in a rookie season (Clark achieved this by notching her second triple-double during a game against the Los Angeles Sparks, following her first triple-double earlier in the season against the New York Liberty); Clark also set the record for the most double-doubles in a rookie season with 5 points/assists
• Broke the record for the most double-doubles in a rookie season with 12 points/assists – the record was previously held by Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) who had 3 double-doubles in the 2002 season

9. A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces)

REGULAR SEASON 

• Broke the record for the most points scored in a WNBA season – Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm) previously held the record with 939 points scored in 2023 and Wilson scored 1021 points in 2024 
• Broke the record for the highest points per game average in a season – Diana Taurasi’s average in 2006 (playing for Phoenix Mercury) was 25.29 points per game, the previous record, and Wilson’s average was 26.87 in 2024; Wilson also broke the record for the highest point per game career average with 21.07 (previous record for career average was held by Cynthia Cooper with an average of 20.98)
• Broke her own record for the most field goals made in a season – her previous record was 335 field goals in 2023 and her current record is 385 field goals in 2024
• Broke the record for the most rebounds in a season with 451 – the record was previously held by Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx) with 404 rebounds in the 2018 season
• Broke the record for the most defensive rebounds in a season with 372 – the record was previously held by Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun) with 314 defensive rebounds in the 2023 season
• Broke her own record for the highest win shares in a WNBA season – in 2024, she achieved 10.86 win shares and she had 10.36 win shares in the 2023 season

10. Angel Reese (Chicago Sky)

REGULAR SEASON 

• Broke the record for the most offensive rebounds in a season with 172 – the record was previously held by Yolanda Griffith (Sacramento Monarchs) with 162 offensive rebounds in the 2001 season
• Broke the record for the highest rebounds per game average in a season with 13.12 – the record was previously held by Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx) with an average of 11.88 during the 2018 season
• Set the record for the most consecutive double-doubles in a single season and multiple seasons with 15 double-doubles – across multiple seasons, the record was previously held by Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks) with 12 double-doubles between 2009-2010 and in a single season, the record was also held by Parker with 9 consecutive double-doubles in the 2015 season
• Broke the record for the most rebounds in a rookie season with 446 rebounds in 2024 – the record was previously held by Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun) with 398 rebounds in the 2010 season; Reese also broke Charles’ record for the highest average rebounds per game in a rookie season – Charles’ average was 11.71 in the 2010 season and Reese’s average in the 2024 season was 13.12 
• Set the record for the most consecutive double-doubles in a rookie season with 15 points/rebounds and she also broke the record for the most double-doubles in a rookie season with 26 points/rebounds – the record was previously held by Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun) who had 22 double-doubles in the 2010 season

11. Tina Charles (Atlanta Dream)

REGULAR SEASON

• Moved past Tina Thompson to 2nd place with the most overall career points in a regular season – her total is 7,696 (adding 581 points in the 2024 season), second only to Diana Taurausi (Phoenix Mercury), who extended her record for the most career points and her total is 10,646 (adding 538 points in the 2024 season)
• Broke the record for the most career rebounds – in 2024, Charles brought her total to 4,014 rebounds (+374 in 2024), breaking Syliva Fowles record of 4,006 rebounds; Charles also broke Fowles’ record for the most defensive rebounds – Fowles had 2,875 defensive rebounds and Charles has 2,885 (+277 in 2024)

12. Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun)

REGULAR SEASON

• Extended her record for the most career triple-doubles – prior to the 2024 season, she held the record with 11 triple-doubles and she added 4 more in the 2024 season, bringing her total to 15 triple-doubles

13. Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystic)

REGULAR SEASON 

• Tied the record for the most three-point field goals made in a single game without missing any attempts, with 6 successful three-pointers in a game against Minnesota Lynx

14. Arike Ogunbowale

REGULAR SEASON 

• Tied the record for the most three-point field goals made in a single game, with 9 successful three-pointers in a game against Indiana Fever; in the same game, Ogunbowale also tied the record for the most three-point field goals made in a single quarter of a WNBA game, successfully making 5 three-pointers