‘This is bonkers’: We’ve never seen a woman do this

An American phenom has dropped jaws and left basketball analysts reaching for their record books after 38 seconds of insanity.

We’ve never seen anything like this.

Caitlin Clark is doing something no other woman has ever done before and 38 seconds of madness proves it.

The reigning WNBA rookie of the year caught fire in the first half of the Indiana Fever’s 102-88 win over the Liberty on Sunday (AEST).

By midway through the second quarter, Clark had drained five 3s and was up to 20 points.

Clark’s 32-point masterpiece helped the Fever become the first team to knock off the defending champions this season.

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She could have added plenty more points to her personal tally had she not been taken out of the game, being limited to just 32 minutes on the floor.

Clark had missed the past five Fever games with a strained quad.

She looked as sharp as ever early in the game where she had 25 points in the first half.

Her first half clinic included one passage of play where she slotted three long-range bombs in the space of 38 seconds.

You can watch the insane shooting in the video clip above.

Caitlin Clark was on fire. Photo: X.

The 38-second display had the sold out crowd of 17,274 inside Gainsbridge Fieldhouse stadium in Indianapolis on their feet.

The WNBA does not keep records on the most points scored in a 38-second stretch, but plenty of commentators have taken to social media to suggest her shooting from well beyond the arc is something no player has done before in the WNBA.

Her tally of seven 3’s for the game is nothing special with the record standing at nine.

Atlanta Dream’s forward Rhyne Howard tied the record last week.

However, what made Clark’s shooting on Sunday so special was that her five 3’s in the first half were knocked down from 34, 28, 31, 27, 31 and 27 feet, per Pat Boylan.

The three-point line is 22 feet.

It wasn’t just her scoring, she also put up nine assists and eight rebounds — having a hand in 54 of her team’s points.

Not surprisingly, Clark superfan and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, was overjoyed at The former university of Iowa student’s performance.

“Just insane,” he posted on X.

“Caitlin is going bonkers. Caitlin Clark is the GOAT. JUST UNREAL”.

In another tweet, Portnoy wrote Clark was going “bananas”.

“This is the best half of basketball by a woman ever and it’s not close,” he wrote.

There were plenty saying the same thing.

Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever. Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images.

Caitlin Clark drops a bomb against the New York Liberty. Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images.

The Athletic’s senior sports writer Dan Duggan posted on X: “People have wasted so much energy with the think pieces and debates about Caitlin Clark.

“She does things no other woman does on the court. It’s awesome to watch. It doesn’t need to be any deeper than that.”

Sport commentator Clay Travis wrote: “We have never seen a team sport athlete with Caitlin Clark’s impact.

“She’s the Tiger Woods of women’s basketball, just delivering an entirely new audience. Now can the WNBA stop being morons and embrace her like golf did Tiger?”

Sport analyst Mark Gunnels wrote: “When it comes to popularity and influence, Caitlin Clark is the third biggest basketball superstar in the world.

“The only two players you could put over her are LeBron James and Steph Curry.”

One fan posted: “There are great players in the WNBA, there are great players in the NBA... But at this point in time, there is only one player who is ‘Must See TV’ every time they play, and that’s Caitlin Clark”.

Clark’s performance was also historic for other reasons. Clark became the fourth fastest player in WNBA history to reach 850 career points, doing so in 45 career games.

In her rookie season alone, she broke WNBA records for most assists in a single game and season, while constantly breaking viewership and attendance records.

At the age of 23, Clark has plenty of time ahead of her to tick off more records.

Originally published as ‘This is bonkers’: We’ve never seen a woman do this