Olivia Miles made a free throw 29 seconds into the second quarter Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena, breaking Caitlin Clark's rookie scoring record. The Minnesota Lynx guard finished with 21 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals in a 101-89 win over the Connecticut Sun.
Miles came into the night tied with Clark at 769 points and left with 790.
Clark set the mark with the Indiana Fever in 2024, surpassing the 744 points Seimone Augustus scored as a rookie in 2006. Augustus played 34 games that season. Clark played 40, and Sunday was Miles' 40th appearance of the year.
The record-breaking free throw was her first point of the night, after she went scoreless through the first quarter. She went 7-of-10 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line the rest of the way.
MILES STANDS ALONE 🥇
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 20, 2026
With this free throw in the 2Q, Olivia Miles (771 PTS and counting) has passed Caitlin Clark (769) for the most points in a rookie season! https://t.co/ATTOWbpIoR pic.twitter.com/1rO6TMwB2L
Olivia Miles Passes Caitlin Clark in 40 Games
Minnesota picked Miles second overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft out of TCU, after she started her college career at Notre Dame. She entered Sunday averaging 19.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists.
For Miles, the record says more about how Minnesota is playing as a team. It would not have happened without a coach who believes in her and teammates who have her back.
"I was aware. It was more so a relief, like, thank goodness," Miles said. "Like, things like that, like, tend to loom over your head, and you might just want to get it done and out the way. And yeah, it was a cool moment. But at the moment, I was, I was really just locked into what we had to execute and feeling good going into these next two games."
OLIVIA MILES OWNS THE WNBA ROOKIE SCORING RECORD 😤
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 20, 2026
771 points and still going 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jfzZSOpked
Rookie Scoring Averages Across Different Season Lengths
For most of its history, the WNBA played a 34-game regular season. The schedule grew to 36 games in 2022, 40 games in 2023, and 44 games in 2025. It moves to 50 games in 2027.
Augustus averaged 21.9 points for Minnesota in 2006. Twelve years later, A'ja Wilson averaged 20.7 points for the Las Vegas Aces and finished with 682 points in a 34-game season.
Cynthia Cooper averaged 22.2 points for the Houston Comets in 1997, the highest rookie average in league history. The record was set in the WNBA's inaugural season, which ran 28 games. She was 34 years old and had played professionally in Europe for a decade before the WNBA existed.
Through 40 games, Miles is averaging 19.8 points. Cappie Pondexter averaged 19.5 points for the Phoenix Mercury in 2006, the same year as Augustus. Clark averaged 19.2 points over 40 games in 2024. Paige Bueckers also averaged 19.2 points for the Dallas Wings in 2025, playing 36 of 44 games.
A Season of Rookie Records
The scoring mark is the latest rookie record Miles has taken from Clark this season. On June 4, she made eight 3-pointers in a win over the Golden State Valkyries, the most by a rookie in a WNBA game and one more than Clark's best.
She needed 21 games to reach 350 points, 100 rebounds, and 100 assists. No rookie in league history had gotten there faster. Clark and former Charlotte Sting guard Andrea Stinson reached the same marks in 22 games.
On Aug. 24, Miles recorded her 225th assist of the season, passing Ticha Penicheiro's 224 in 1998. That came in an 80-66 home loss to Golden State at Target Center.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve met Miles' parents in person for the first time after Sunday's game and told them they had done an incredible job with her.
"They've asked me to be hard on her, and I said, yeah, that started tonight," Reeve said. "We know the honeymoon's over, and we've got things to do. She's been incredible for us, but it's going to get harder, and she's got to be able to quickly navigate things and make reads that make us a better team."
"She's going to have to, every possession of both sides of the ball, you have to be," Reeve continued. "You're playing a position that, and she knows this. We've talked about it. Everyone's looking at you, and she's got some really broad shoulders. [She] can handle it, has the maturity to do it, handles the ups and downs really, really well."
"And like you said, set a scoring record. That's pretty incredible," Reeve added. "Obviously the assist, the rebounds, just the way she impacts the game. She's been a tremendous rookie for sure."
Lynx Hold Off the Sun
Napheesa Collier scored the game's first four points, and Minnesota opened on an 11-2 run on its way to a 27-12 lead after the first quarter. By halftime, Collier had 19 of her team-high 23 points. She finished 9-of-16 from the field.
Connecticut shot 15-of-28 from 3-point range and outscored Minnesota 14-4 in transition. The Lynx went 4-of-21 from deep. Gianna Kneepkens, Leila Lacan, and Diamond Miller scored 15 points each for the Sun.
After the Sun got within seven early in the fourth quarter, Miles attacked the rim and the Lynx kept going to Natasha Howard late. Howard finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Reeve said the problems started in the second quarter, when Connecticut had 12 fast-break points, and the Lynx will watch video of the game together Monday. That is not typical for them after a win.
"It's unacceptable. I think some of the things that we did, so not happy," Reeve explained. "… Just not connected defensively. It's not our standard, and this is not the time to be doing that."
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Minnesota, which had dropped games to the Atlanta Dream, Golden State, and the New York Liberty.
Olivia Miles today:
— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) September 20, 2026
• 21 points
• 6 assists
• 3 rebounds
• 2 steals
• 7/10 FG pic.twitter.com/IiyJsiGcOH
Final Lynx Trip to Mohegan Sun Arena
Sunday was the Lynx's last trip to Uncasville before the Sun relocate to Houston and become the Comets. Collier was thinking about it Saturday. Sunday was likely her last game at Mohegan Sun, and she does not know why she would be back.
"I was just saying I play here every year for the past 11 years, which is crazy, counting UConn," Collier said. "So having this be the last year, it's just surreal. It's been so much a part of my, obviously my life, the last decade.
"And just the legacy, like you said, the amazing names hung in the rafters, the people that we recognize today, just such an amazing history here," Collier added. "And the fans are always amazing. They've been amazing through college, through the Connecticut Sun professionally. We know how much, how loyal Connecticut fans are. And so it's sad to see that come to a close, but just a huge thank you to them for their support throughout this whole time. And it's been an amazing, it's been an amazing legacy that they're leaving behind."
What's Next for the Minnesota Lynx
Minnesota is 32-10, the best record in the WNBA. Golden State is 31-11. One more Lynx win, or one Valkyries loss, clinches the No. 1 seed for Minnesota.
Miles will play her first postseason with the ball in her hands, and having Collier on the floor next to her takes some of the stress off.
"Listening to my coach and leaning into my teammates who have been there," Miles explained. "I'm trying to soak up as much experience from them as I can and listening obviously to Phee and Mack and [our] core group [of] leaders and want to handle this the right way and want to make sure we're on the right track."
Miles is aware the playoffs will present a new challenge, one she's yet to experience.
"I obviously, again, like I said, haven't really done it, don't really know what it feels like, don't really know, like, the intensity and pressure," Miles continued. "Like, I can feel it, but I truly don't have, like, great perspective on it yet. But as these games are happening down the stretch and, like, we need wins to secure the first seed or we need to play well and make sure that we're heading in the right direction into playoffs, I'm sort of feeling that urgency, and it's been cool to kind of lean into.
"But I think number one is listening to Cheryl because she's done it so many times and then leaning into my vets and people who have experienced it and know the path," Miles noted. "I can't sit here and act like I know it all because I don't, and so you have to be humble in that way and really just have your mind open to things."
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