Caitlin Clark’s slump is officially over.

The Indiana Fever star reminded everyone what she’s capable of with a historic performance on Friday night to lead her team to a thrilling 110-107 win over the Seattle Storm. Clark finished with a career-high 45 points and 10 assists to set the Fever’s franchise scoring record and become the first player in WNBA history with a 40-point, 10-assist game.

“I just thought I was aggressive from the start,” Clark said. “Missed a shot, came back and made the next. I knew my team needed me to step up with [Aliyah Boston] out. Just proud of this group. We were down eight with four minutes to play. Just some true resiliency, but we got another one tomorrow. So this is great, but let’s move on.”

Clark, who shot 11 of 18 from the field, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range, and 17 of 19 from the free throw line, also added four steals and two blocks, including one late in the fourth quarter that was arguably the biggest play of the night until she hit a go-ahead 3 on the ensuing possession.

With less than a minute to play and the score tied at 102-102, Makayla Timpson turned the ball over and Flau’jae Johnson raced the other way. Clark sprinted back with her, and with a perfectly timed swipe knocked the ball out of Johnson’s hands and off her leg out of bounds.

Down on the other end, Clark went one-on-one with Johnson and buried a deep step-back 3 from the left wing to give the Fever a 105-102 advantage. She then sealed the game at the free throw line to tie A’ja Wilson for the second-highest scoring game this season.

“I mean, it’s cool. I don’t really care,” Clark said, when asked of her record-setting scoring output. “I know what I’m capable of and I know what this team is capable of, and it’s my job to help us win and be the best team in the WNBA and I don’t think we’re there yet. It’s my responsibility to help us get there. We’ll keep working.”

Highest scoring games in Fever history

Clark, whose 10 assists led to 21 points for the Fever, also set a WNBA record by accounting for 66 points. Furthermore, she played just 29 minutes and her 45 points are the most ever by a player in fewer than 30 minutes.

“Some nights, like, you know you have it — even before the ball tips,” Clark said. “I felt like it was going to be one of those for me.

“I feel like you just have to believe you’re going to have those type of nights, and you have to visualize having those types of nights. And I feel like that’s what I did.”

Friday’s performance ended a frustrating stretch for Clark, who has had a roller coaster season.

After an early slump, she bounced back to win Eastern Conference Player of the Month in June, but toward the end of the month was on the receiving end of what Fever coach Stephanie White called “two cheap shots” in a controversial loss to the Phoenix Mercury. One of them was a fist to the throat by Alyssa Thomas, which was retroactively upgraded to a Flagrant 2 and became a flashpoint, and the other was a landing space foul that jarred Clark’s back and forced her to the sideline for two weeks.

Entering Friday, Clark was averaging 11.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, five assists and four turnovers on 35.1/15.8/71.4 shooting splits in 21.9 minutes in the three games since her return. During that stretch she had publicly complained about the team’s return-to-play plan for her and lashed out at the officials during a frustrating loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday.

But against the Storm, Clark was back to her best to help the Fever get a key win without Boston, who was sidelined due to a leg injury.

“It’s incredible,” White said. “I mean, it’s special. She does things that we haven’t seen. She had a lot of bounce early. You could tell she was feeling better. She was feeling good, and in the moment, sometimes it’s surreal to see.

“I look down at the stat sheet at the end of the game, and it’s like, holy s—, 45 and 10.”

Now 15-10, the Fever are in sixth place, but tied for the fifth-best record in the crowded middle of the playoff race. They are only one and a half games behind the Dallas Wings for a top-four seed.

Let’s take a closer look at the top-five plays from the best performance of Clark’s career:

5. Lefty backdoor feed

Early in the first quarter, Clark came down in semi-transition and went behind her back to get the defense off balance, then drove to her left toward Kelsey Mitchell. As Clark got to the elbow, Mitchell cut backdoor and Clark found her with a sweet left-hand feed for an and-one.

4. History-making 3

Clark entered Friday with 198 career 3-pointers, and added six more — her second-most of the season. Early in the second quarter, she made her second of the night off a feed from Tyasha Harris to reach 200. With that shot, she became the fastest player to 200 3s in WNBA history, doing so in 74 career games.

3. Clutch deep 3

The Fever trailed by eight in the fourth quarter, but had cut the deficit down to four with less than three minutes to play. They got even closer when Clark drove right, took a bump from Jade Melbourne and pulled up for a deep 3 to make it a one-point game. That shot gave Clark 38 points and a new career-high.

2. Clark can play defense, too

Clark has never been known for her defense, but she made a number of big plays on that side of the ball on Friday; her four steals and two blocks were both season-highs. With less than a minute to play, she came up with one of the best defensive moments of her career when she sprinted back in transition to turn a likely go-ahead basket for the Storm into a turnover by stripping Flau’jae Johnson on the way up.

1. Go-ahead 3

After Clark forced Johnson into a turnover, the Fever had the ball with a chance to take their first lead of the fourth quarter. The Fever went to a pick-and-roll with Clark and Monique Billings, which the Storm blew up with a hard hedge. Clark had to retreat to midcourt, and with the shot clock winding down, decided to go one-on-one with Johnson.

She drove and went for one of her patented step-back 3s to the left, which caught nothing but net from 26 feet. The shot not only gave the Fever the lead for good, but gave Clark the first 40-point game of her career.

NEW YORK — While they’ve yet to play in the World Cup final, Spain have already made plenty of history during this tournament under Luis de la Fuente. He has taken over the side and turned them into a well-oiled machine, passing with a purpose, defending as a unit, and it hasn’t been down to one specific player. Rodri has anchored the squad as their captain, being there for Spain winning a UEFA Nations League title, European Championship, and now he has a chance to lift the World Cup as well, completing one of the greatest national team runs possible.

Rodri’s own play has been critical to that process. He’s a calm passer with the ball at his feet, while also being able to stop counterattacks in their tracks. It’s key as Spain have already allowed the fewest goals for a team that has played seven matches (the most a team could play before this World Cup’s expansion to 48 teams), with one. It breaks a record that was jointly held by Spain in 2010, France in 1998, and Italy in 2008, all of whom allowed two goals en route to winning the World Cup. If Spain pitches another shutout, they’ll have statistically become the greatest defensive team to ever win a World Cup.

“I’ll always be confident in myself,” Rodri said in his pre-match press conference. “I think one of the big parts of my game is trying to apply this accuracy, as you mentioned, in terms of passing and being very safe with the ball. And yeah, very happy with the development. That’s the main thing for me in this tournament, the development, individual, and as a group. And we can even do it better. I think against France, we’ll do one of the best games we’ve ever done as a team. But against Argentina, I think we have to raise the level because they are the champions. I’m really confident that we can do it.”

Spain raising their level from what we’ve already seen is a scary proposition. When you’ve become known for a song with the line, “Erling Haaland trembles because Cucurella is coming,” you know defense is your calling card

Marc Cucurella’s tenacity is part of what makes this Spain team great as well, and there’s a reason why Jose Mourinho also views him as a key member of his Real Madrid defense and added the left back from Chelsea in a blockbuster move finalized during the World Cup. He’ll lock down a team’s best winger while also getting into the box in order to help out the attack. It’s one of many things that showcase Spain’s selfless approach to soccer.

After leading the Spanish U-23s at the Olympics, de la Fuente took over the senior side in 2022 after managing at every level of the youth game for the national team. That gave him a unique perspective on how to set up the system as a whole to ensure that things from the youth level translate to the senior squad. Then, with the backing of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, both the men’s and women’s national teams have gotten the support that they need to be the best in the world, and it could lead to the first time ever that the same nation could become the current champions of both the men’s and women’s World Cups at the same time.

This shows the care and preparation that has gone into what we’re watching in front of us, but it has also been a gradual process where the fruits of their labor have been rewarded during each stop along the way.