There have been eight triple-doubles in the WNBA this season. Alyssa Thomas has five of them.
That's just one way to quantify how well the Connecticut Sun star has played this season. But Thomas saved her best performance of the 2023 season for Tuesday night against the Minnesota Lynx: The 31-year-old racked up 21 points, 20 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and a block in Connecticut's 79-69 win at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Here are the records Thomas set in Tuesday night's game alone with her all-around effort:
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- Quickest triple-double in WNBA history (Thomas completed her triple-double with 1:32 left in the third quarter)
- First player in WNBA history to record 20-plus points, 15-plus rebounds and 10-plus assists in a game
- Only player in WNBA history with triple-doubles in back-to-back games (17 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in Sunday's loss to Minnesota)
Thomas is very close to averaging a triple-double for the entire season, with 14.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. While Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson are heavy favorites to win the 2023 WNBA MVP award, Thomas currently sits third in the MVP ladder and is one of the most complete players in the league today.
"Sometimes players do things that you're really just speechless," Sun head coach Stephanie White said after Tuesday's game, via ESPN.com's Alex Philippou. "Spectacular moment that we all witnessed here tonight and just really, really incredible effort by her."
Connecticut Sun
Thomas isn't Connecticut's leading scorer on the season (DeWanna Bonner is averaging 19.1 points per game), but she leads the team in rebounds, assists and steals and has been the engine driving the Sun to a 19-7 record, good for third in the WNBA as of Wednesday morning.