Nika Muhl entered rare air this past Saturday after the junior broke Sue Bird's 21-year-old assist record set back in 2001-02.

Bird, a five-time gold medalist and the WNBA's leader in career assists, dished out 231 assists during the 2001-02 campaign which held strong until this season. Muhl finished the night with seven assists and a total of 236 on the year.

“Now that I’m so close to beating her record, I respect [Sue Bird] so much more, because this is tough, man,” Mühl said on Saturday. “It depends on so [many] things, like she was such a great passer. So first of all, just huge respect for her.

“I mean, it means a lot. I really like this group of people, my teammates, and I feel like it means even more because it’s kind of like a team award. Assists, you have to pass but somebody has to make a basket. … I try not to think about it, but I hope it’s gonna happen in Gampel in front of our home crowd. That would be amazing. But just respect for Sue. I feel like this is a tough thing to do, it really is. I never understood how tough it is.”

Nika Muhl and her ability to create opportunities for her teammates has been one of the reasons UConn has remained in the conversation as one of the nation's best teams in the nation. After losing Paige Bueckers at the start of the season and Azzi Fudd, who is out indefinitely, Muhl was handed the keys to the Huskies' offense and followed it up with one of the best seasons a guard at UConn has had as a facilitator.