PHOENIX – Caitlin Clark had 15 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds and the Indiana Fever rallied for an 88-82 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday.
Clark made just 4 of 14 shots and 2 of 10 three-pointers. But she made two free throws with 19.9 seconds remaining, giving the Fever a three-point lead. Indiana trailed by 15 points in the first half.
Kelsey Mitchell’s basket with 35 seconds remaining gave Indiana the lead for good. She made two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining to seal the lead. Mitchell scored 16 points, all in the second half.
Aliyah Boston scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and NaLyssa Smith had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Fever, who finished 7-4 in June after going 1-8 in May. Temi Fagbenle had 10 points for Indiana.
“When the challenges came, we stepped up and tackled them head on. I couldn’t be more proud of my entire team,” said Fever coach Christie Sides.
Clark played all but 33 seconds of the game despite not feeling well, Sides said.
Brittney Griner scored 24 points, Diana Taurasi scored 19 and Natasha Cloud scored 15 for Phoenix.
Kahleah Copper, who entered Sunday third in the WNBA with 22.7 points per game, scored just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting before fouling out in the final seconds but had most of the responsibility of guarding Clark.
It was the first on-field meeting between Taurasi and Clark. Taurasi, 42, is the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer and is in her 20th season in the WNBA. She was a student at Connecticut when Clark was born. The 22-year-old Fever rookie said before the game that Taurasi has been one of her idols since the time she learned about the WNBA.
When Clark was drafted first overall after a career at Iowa that saw her lead the Hawkeyes to back-to-back NCAA championships, Taurasi said, “Reality sets in,” when asked about Clark’s entry into the league. Later, Taurasi said she meant it would be a difficult transition to professional basketball.
“It’s amazing to see what Caitlin has done, and what I really like about her is that she loves the game,” Taurasi said after the game. “She’s worked hard, she’s been put through a lot, and she continues to get better every game. Her future is very bright.”
The Mercury jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led 49-38 at halftime, with Griner and Taurasi each scoring 13 points. The Fever went on a 17-0 run to lead by as many as 10 in the third quarter, but Phoenix cut the score to 67-64 by the end of the period.
“We were emphasizing getting out and running, moving the ball and making good shots,” Boston said.
Taurasi said: “Maybe we settled a little too much, we stagnated, we had better movements (in the first half). They were running faster than us.”
There were two skirmishes in the first half, both over dead ball situations. Griner was called for a technical foul as the teams prepared for a free throw in the first quarter, and the second occurred after a foul was called and the teams got involved as they gathered near each other under the Indiana basket.
Two players from each team received technical fouls: Fagbenle and Erica Wheeler for the Fever, and Copper and Cloud for the Mercury.
In the final minute of the half, Smith was charged with a flagrant foul 1 against Taurasi. Cloud then received a flagrant 1 for a foul against Katie Lou Samuelson, who made both free throws to cut the deficit to 78-77 with 2:17 to play.
Phoenix hosts Connecticut on Monday. Indiana completes a five-game trip in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
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