Can Caitlin Clark, Olivia Miles break Sabrina Ionescu's triple-double record?

Iowa junior Caitlin Clark and Notre Dame sophomore Olivia Miles each acquired another NCAA Division I triple-double record within a week of each other this month.

Clark, again a leading National Player of the Year contender, broke the Big Ten record on Dec. 4 with her seventh career triple-double. Miles, who enrolled early in 2021, broke the Notre Dame record previously held by Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith with her third on Dec. 10.

They are the active triple-double queens who could overtake the greatest one of all time. Sabrina Ionescu, the Oregon star and 2020 No. 1 WNBA draft pick to the New York Liberty, acquired the crown with 26 triple-doubles in her four-year collegiate career. By her sophomore year, she had set the women’s record and as a junior cruised past the overall NCAA Division I men’s or women’s record.

Triple-doubles are not rare in the collegiate game as they had historically been in the WNBA, yet few have collected more than a handful until recently. Clark and Miles, nightly triple-double watch threats, are within reach of the record as well other marks Ionescu holds, such as being the only player to have a triple-double all four seasons of her collegiate career. Both Clark and Miles are well on their way to matching that.

Here's how their triple-doubles and averages compare to the "triple-double queen."

Sabrina Ionescu’s triple-double record

The bulk of Ionescu's 26 triple-doubles over 142 games, all of which she started, were in her junior and senior seasons. In addition to those, she had three more games in which she had at least nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists, according to Her Hoop Stats. And she scored at least eight of each category 36 times. Her career-high in steals is six.

Ionescu's first triple-double was in the seventh game of her collegiate career in November 2016; she added three more that season. The six she had as a sophomore tied her with Youngstown State's Danielle Carson for most in a season. Carson was a senior in 1986 when she set the mark with the help of a record three consecutive ones that fall.

As a junior in December 2018, Ionescu broke the NCAA men's record, set two years prior as the overall NCAA Division I record. It was the 13th of her career, besting Kyle Collinsworth of BYU and pulling her further away from Chastadie Barrs, who had nine for the Lamar women's program from 2016-19.

She broke her own season record with eight that season, including a memorable NCAA tournament one against Indiana. It was after that game that Ionescu made headlines for calling out ESPN's lack of coverage of women's sports. Murray State's Ja Morant had opened the men's tournament with a triple-double days prior and media outlets, including ESPN, incorrectly described it as the "first March Madness triple-double since 2012" when Ionescu had one the previous March.

As a senior, she added eight more jewels to her crown. Ionescu also holds the record for most seasons with a triple-double (four) and most against one opponent with three against Arizona.

Ionescu averaged 18 points (45.5 FG%), 7.3 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 34.6 minutes per game at Oregon. Her rebounding and assist numbers increased every season. She became the first player to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in NCAA Division I history. Her final line is 2,562 points, 1,040 rebounds and 1,091 assists. She has three triple-doubles in 65 games in the WNBA.

Caitlin Clark's triple-double pace

Clark currently has seven triple-doubles a third of the way into her junior season, two short of third place and five of second.

She's had three additional games of at least nine points, rebounds and assists, according to Her Hoop Stats. And seven games of at least eight each. Her career high is five steals. And her averages are in line with Ionescu's, putting her in triple-double territory most nights out.

Her only one as a freshman came almost exactly two years ago on Dec. 22. As a sophomore, she added five more to tie for third-most in a season. They were massive ones that included back-to-back 30-point games for elite NBA-level company. She became the first Division I player to lead the nation in points (27) and assists (eight) last year.

She came into her junior season tied for fourth-most career triple-doubles with six. The triple-double against Wisconsin this month was her first of the season and broke the tie with Samantha Logic (also of Iowa) for most in men's or women's Big Ten history. As of Tuesday, she leads Division I averaging 27.7 points per game and is tied with Miles for fifth-most assists at 7.2. She's averaging 7.5 rebounds in 11 games.

Clark is four triple-doubles behind the 11 Ionescu had at this point in her junior year. She would need to average 10 over the next two seasons to break the mark, a number that itself would break Ionescu's record.

She could also come close to the career 2,000-1,000-1,000 threshold. She's averaging 26.9 points (46.2%), 7.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists. When broken down by games played and estimating about 51 more games in her career, Clark is on pace for 3,338 points, 877 rebounds and 932 assists. She would need to average closer to 9.5 rebounds and 8.8 assists over the rest of her career to reach the marks. Ionescu averaged 17.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 9.1 apg her senior season.

Washington's Kelsey Plum holds the career points record (3,527), Oklahoma's Courtney Paris holds the rebounds record (2,034) and Penn State's Suzie McConnell holds the assists mark (1,307 in 1980s).

Olivia Miles' triple-double pace

Miles has the most potential of the two to overtake the triple-double crown if only because she's younger. Miles, a five-star point guard ranked No. 8 overall out of high school, enrolled at Notre Dame in January 2021 and played 136 minutes in six games. Her freshman numbers are in line with those of both Ionescu and Clark.

Miles is averaging 13.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 48 career games as of Tuesday. Based on her game averages so far, and estimating 128 more games in her career, she is on pace for 2,663 points, 779 rebounds and 923 assists.

The three triple-doubles have already broken the Fighting Irish record of two set by Loyd and Diggins-Smith. Chris Thomas is the only one to do it for the men's program. Her first was just more than a year ago on Dec. 8, 2021, and she added another as the first freshman to notch one in the NCAA tournament. Her third was the 13-point, 13-rebound, 14-assist game in 27 minutes against Merrimack.

She's currently tied with a large group of players who have three triple-doubles, including Brittney Griner (Baylor), Logic and active players Grace Berger (Indiana) and Haley Cavinder (Miami transfer from Fresno State).

Miles has one game in which she fell one assist short against Syracuse, and three more in which she had at least eight points, rebounds and assists. Her career high in steals is six. The number of times she has already come close, and the rise of Notre Dame while she's been there, indicate she could cruise up the triple-double record list to at least come close to the mark.