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Caitlin Clark lifts Indiana Fever to first win of season with clutch play

Derek Peterson

By Derek Peterson

Published:

Caitlin Clark said on Wednesday night that she was trying to stay positive after the Indiana Fever lost 85-83 to drop to 0-5 on the season. Iowa lost 5 total games in 39 outings during Clark’s senior season, but the WNBA had proven troublesome for the No. 1 overall pick. She was held to single digits in a game for the first time in 3 years earlier this month, and after 3 consecutive double-digit losses to begin her career, Indiana had come frustratingly close to wins in the last 2 games.

So, on Friday night, seemingly immune to the cold shooting that had plagued her for the first 37 minutes of the game, Clark confidently buried 2 deep triples to help lift Indiana to a 78-73 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on the road.

In doing so, Indiana erased an 11-point halftime deficit in front of its sixth consecutive sellout crowd to secure its first win of the 2024 regular season.

Clark opened the game 0-for-7 from 3-point range and had just 5 points until deep into the fourth. With 2:24 left in the game and Indiana holding a 3-point lead, Clark stepped back for a 33-footer to put the Fever up by 2 possessions.

And when Los Angeles cut the lead to 2 with less than a minute to play, Clark stepped back to deliver a dagger from straight away. As she turned to head back down the floor inside Crypto.com Arena, the face of the WNBA shrugged her shoulders, grinned, and held her palms to the sky — a little too like Mike.

Clark wouldn’t let the Fever lose. Not after they had a chance to beat Connecticut on Monday and let it slip away in the final minute. Not after they rallied from 7 down in the final 3 minutes of Wednesday’s game only to lose in the final minute. Not this time.

“To be honest, I went to the bench after I was like, ‘I was due, they had to go in,'” Clark said of her dagger triples. “I had missed so many throughout the game. It was time for them to go in.”

Clark finished with 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting and 2-of-9 from 3. She grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds, dished a career-high-tying 8 assists, and recorded a career-high 4 steals. She also had just 2 turnovers after averaging 5.8 through her first 5 games.

Despite her shooting struggles, Clark found ways to impact the game. She said afterward she was proud of the activity on defense and the contributions she made on the offensive end when her shot wasn’t falling. Teammates picked up the scoring slack, with Aliyah Boston scoring 17, Temi Fagbenle scoring 17 off the bench, and Kelsey Mitchell scoring a team-high 18.

When it was time to take the game over, she rose to the moment as she’s done time and again throughout her career.

“I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I seriously think every shot I shoot is going to go in,” Clark said. “Some nights are absolutely amazing and some nights you struggle to shoot it a little bit, but I want to take those shots at the end of the game. I think it’s a mindset and a confidence that you have to have about yourself.”

Indiana is back in action Saturday night against the two-time defending champion Aces in Las Vegas. The action tips at 9 p.m. ET on NBA TV. Clark and the Fever will look to keep the good times going as a serious underdog. FanDuel had the Aces as a 16-point favorite at the time of publication.

For her part, Clark is focusing on the process.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” she said. “This is my job, this is what I love to do, but I never want to lose the fun of the game, and nights like tonight remind me why I love playing basketball.”

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.