Clark explodes in return as Fever snap Liberty’s season-opening win streak
Caitlin Clark put up a monstrous 32-8-9 effort, Kelsey Mitchell had 22 points, and the Indiana Fever handed the New York Liberty their first loss of the season with a 102-88 win.
It was going to take a lot to snap the New York Liberty’s season-opening win streak. That’s exactly what the Indiana Fever got in the return of Caitlin Clark.
The superstar sophomore guard exploded in her first game back to lead the Fever to a 102-88 win over the Liberty on Saturday, snapping the reigning champs’ win streak to start the year at nine.
Clark had missed the last three weeks of action with a left quad strain, but didn’t seem to have missed a beat, coming out guns blazing with 25 points in the first half.
She wound up finishing the game with 32 points, eight rebounds and nine assists while shooting 11-for-20 from the field and 7-for-14 from three-point range. Her seven three-pointers tied a career high.
Her masterful first half was the highest-scoring half of her WNBA career and helped the Fever to a five-point lead as they went back to the locker room.
With Clark’s presence opening the floor, the Fever (5-5) set a franchise record with 17 made threes in 35 attempts (48.6 per cent).
Despite Clark cooling off in the second, the rest of the Fever picked up the slack, as Kelsey Mitchell netted 15 of her 22 points after coming back from break. She nailed the dagger with two minutes to go, sinking a triple from the corner off an assist from Clark to cement a 15-point lead.
The Mitchell make was part of a 14-3 run from the Fever midway through the fourth, pulling away from what was an otherwise close game.
Lexie Hull added 14, Aliyah Boston scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and reserve Sydney Colson scored 10. It was the first time this season Indiana reached triple digits.
The Fever (5-5) posted a 2-3 record with Clark out of the lineup with the strained quadricep.
Sabrina Ionescu scored a season-high 34 points on 11-of-20 shooting, including four-for-10 from three. Breanna Stewart scored 24 points and Nyara Sabally scored 10 apiece for the Liberty (9-1).
The Liberty took a 17-6 lead before Clark took over in the last three minutes of the first quarter. She converted a three-point play with 3:06 left, then went ballistic from deep, burying threes from 33-feet, 27-feet and 31-feet in three consecutive possessions spanning 38 seconds to tie it at 24.
The Fever led 53-50 at halftime before New York started the third with a 9-0 run. Indiana countered with a 17-0 run and finished the quarter up 80-71. The Liberty drew within 85-82 with a pair of Ionescu foul shots with six minutes left but never got closer.
With the Liberty loss, there are no longer any undefeated teams left in the WNBA. The Minnesota Lynx dropped their first game of the season on Wednesday, losing 94-84 to the Seattle Storm.
