Caitlin Clark (No. 22, guard) of the Indiana Fever scored 20 points, six rebounds and 13 assists for her fifth consecutive double-double in points and assists, en route to a 95-86 win over the Phoenix Mercury at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday, July 14, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo: Ryan May | 800 Meter Sports Photography)
INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark continued to showcase her elevating craft in the WNBA with her eighth career double-double and fifth consecutive in points and assists in Friday evening’s game between the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
With 20 points, 13 assists and six rebounds, the 22-year-old West Des Moines, Iowa, native, along with Kelsey Mitchell’s 28-point performance, led Indiana to a 95-86 win over Phoenix. The road to victory was close in the fourth quarter, but the Fever led from start-to-finish against the Mercury.
Clark set the tempo just 25 seconds into the game with her patented shot from downtown. Kahleah Copper, the league’s second highest scorer, got on the board for Phoenix 20 seconds later before Katie Lou Samuelson and Kelsey Mitchell made their first baskets of the night with Clark’s first two assists.
Throughout the first quarter, Clark was a contributor with points or assists in nine of the Fever’s 12 scoring efforts. Building off marked progress in recent games, Clark continued to tally points and assists, finding her open teammates like NaLyssa Smit and Aliyah Boston while demonstrating her strong presence in the paint, ending the first half with 15 points.
With a 55-35 lead over Phoenix after two frames, Clark secured her latest double-double with her assist to Mitchell 2 minutes and 29 seconds into the third quarter. Indiana kept their high tempo offensive attack going with Clark’s playmaking and Mitchell’s scoring prowess, making her presence known beyond the arc or in the paint.
Meanwhile, Boston and Smith attacked on the scoring front while Samuelson gathered rebounds to keep the Fever driving down the court. It appeared it would be easy breezing to the fourth quarter for the young Fever squad against an injury riddled Phoenix Mercury roster.
Living up to their city’s name, the Mercury were nearly reborn from their ashes from the first three quarters with a nearly phoenix like rise. Outscoring Indiana, 28-14, Phoenix went from being down by as many 31 points to just four inside the final 3:12 of the fourth quarter.
Despite the impressive surge for Phoenix, catalyzed by Copper and Cunningham, the Fever responded with Erica Wheeler, Lexie Hull, Samuelson, Smith, Mitchell and Boston’s scores with Clark assisting twice in the final stanza.
Tallying a season high 95 team points in their 10th win of the season, Indiana moved up to seventh in the WNBA standings, a half game ahead of the Chicago Sky.
Following the game, Clark considered her recent success on both ends of the floor.
Caitlin Clark (No. 22, guard) of the Indiana Fever has been a determined playmaker throughout her rookie season after logging her fifth double-double in a row in points and assiss. (Photo: Ryan May | 800 Meter Sports Photography)
“Yeah, it’s so fun just getting to pick apart the defense,” Clark said. “Especially when we get stops on on defense and get to go in transition. I just get excited and honestly, a lot of my turnovers, that’s where they come from just trying to play exciting basketball and transition. At times, I feel like I can almost overpass because I want to set them up so badly that I almost kind of lose vision of the basket at times or I’m almost thinking to pass the ball and forget about shooting at times.
“I think it adds a whole other dimension of what the defense has to scheme for. I’m going to try to set up my teammates the best I can, but at the same time, I want to be able to score the ball so the more I can do that, the better it’s going to be for our team overall.”
Mitchell praised Clark’s dynamic play and her immediate impact with the Fever, seeing those open looks or making plays that have led Indiana to six wins in the past 10 games.
“The one thing I can appreciate about Caitlin is her vision and her ability to get the ball up the floor,” Mitchell said. “You don’t see it a lot. And so I can appreciate it because I can utilize what I’m decent at and that’s running. So if I’m open and I feel like I’m in a position to assist her or her assist me, I think we play really great basketball that way.”
Even with the wire-to-wire win and incredible performances for the Fever, Clark was positive but pragmatic on what worked and she and her teammates can iron out after Friday night’s victory.
“I thought we just came out and played really aggressive,” Clark said. “I think that was our mission from the jump is come out and attack. And that’s what we did for three quarters. I thought our fourth quarter was a bit disappointing, but it’s hard to attack in transition when you can’t stop the ball.
“We didn’t get stops on defense, but overall, I thought we played three quarters of really good basketball, especially offensively, and then two good quarters of in the first half, especially on defense.”
Playoff Picture
The Indiana Fever (10-14) have a half-game lead over eighth place Chicago Sky (9-14) and a two-game lead over the ninth place Atlanta Dream (7-15) while lengthening their lead over the Dallas Wings (5-19) from four to five games. Both teams will square off at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Coming Up Next
On Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT, the Fever take on the third-place Minnesota Lynx (16-7) at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for their first head-to-head matchup of the season. ESPN will carry live coverage of the game.
