The Connecticut Sun's Alyssa Thomas recorded the franchise's first triple-double Friday night, tallying 15 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in a 94-84 win at Minnesota.
It was the 17th triple-double in league history, including postseason play, and sixth so far in 2022, the most of any WNBA season.
The 6-foot-2 forward had flirted with a triple-double earlier this season, including in early June against Seattle when she finished with 12 assists, 11 rebounds and eight points, but left points on the board after missing two free throws.
Thomas didn't let the opportunity go to waste Friday, grabbing her 10th rebound to complete the triple-double in the final 20 seconds of the game.
"I was trying really hard," Thomas said. "My teammates told me I needed, what, three more [rebounds]. It was a team effort for me to get this tonight."
Previous WNBA triple-doubles this season were achieved by the Chicago Sky's Candace Parker (2), New York Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu (2) and Lynx's Moriah Jefferson. Thomas was just the 11th player to record one in WNBA history.
"It's not easy to do it at this level, and so to get this tonight definitely means a lot," Thomas said.
Thomas is currently the longest-tenured member of the Sun, having played her entire WNBA career in Uncasville since being traded there shortly after being drafted in 2014.
"She experienced some down times," head coach Curt Miller, who was hired ahead of the 2016 campaign, said of Thomas. "Before we got here, they hadn't gone to the playoffs three straight years [2013 to 2015]. Our first year when I got there [2016] was the rebuilding year so she had to fight through some of those years before we turned the corner.
"Now since 2017, we've won the most regular-season games in the league. She's a big part of that and has been a staple in our franchise and has been a face of our franchise. Obviously we refer to her as our engine. It's fitting through all the perseverance that she's the one to record the first triple-double."
Thomas also stunned onlookers by returning to play for the Sun less than nine months after tearing her Achilles playing overseas in January 2021. After appearing in the team's final two regular-season games, Thomas and Connecticut fell in the semifinals to the eventual champion Sky.
The Sun are still looking to win the first title in franchise history after making it to the semifinals or better each of the past three seasons, including a five-game finals against the Washington Mystics in 2019. They know that crossing the finish line will require standout play from Thomas, who has had to take on a larger role as a facilitator after the season-ending injury to point guard Jasmine Thomas in May.
Miller said Thomas' trademark grit has also been important to the team's success.
"What isn't a surprise is, you know the competitor, you know how she's going to compete each and every day," Miller said of Alyssa. "And there's a comfort as a coach that you know how hard she's going to lead by example and play and just will other people, and certainly people feed off that."