In an 83-78 win against New York on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Caitlin Clark recorded the first triple-double by a rookie in WNBA history and ended the Fever’s nine-game losing run against the Liberty.
For Indiana (9-13), Clark ended with 19 points, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds. The No. 1 choice in the WNBA draft almost avoided a triple-double in a road win against the Phoenix Mercury two games before, falling short by one rebound.
“It’s pretty cool, obviously,” Clark said. “My colleagues have been completing passes quite quickly. My help figures are what they are because of them.”
Christie Sides, the coach of Indiana, was delighted with both Clark and the Fever’s 12 point fourth-quarter advantage against the Liberty.
After the game, she exclaimed, “Caitlin with a triple-double, my gosh, that’s incredible.” “It’s important for us to limit New York to 16 points in the fourth quarter. That is the league’s top team.”
In the first quarter, Clark scored 11 points, hitting three of his four three-point attempts. In the third quarter, she had more assists than double digits, and in the fourth, she had more than ten rebounds.
With 2:31 remaining, Clark made a three-point play and Kelsey Mitchell followed with another three-pointer to level the score at 75. Aliyah Mitchell’s steal was used by Boston to give Indiana a two-point advantage, and at 1:24 of the game, Lexie Hull’s reverse layup made it 79-75.
Sabrina Ionescu of New York responded with a three-pointer, but she missed another opportunity to put the Liberty up. With 17 seconds remaining, Boston converted two free throws, and Mitchell finished with two with 11 seconds left to seal the upset.
Out of 42 tries, New York only made 10 from over the arc.
Boston said, “We defended well the entire game.” “Those last few minutes, especially those last few possessions, were great for us.”
Boston led the Fever with eight rebounds and eight points on eight of twelve shooting. Mitchell scored 14 points, going over 10 for the eighth time in a row. The second-round selection in the 2022 NBA Draft, NaLyssa Smith, scored 12 points and 11 rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the year.
New York (17-4), who had won five consecutive games, was led by Ionescu’s 22 points. With four 3-pointers made, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton ended with 20 points. Six rebounds, six assists, and fourteen points were contributed by Breanna Stewart. In addition to six points and three steals, Jonquel Jones pulled down twelve rebounds.
Clark’s goals and a layup gave Indiana an early 8-0 lead in the contest. She turned a steal into a three-pointer with 3:04 left in the first quarter, giving the Fever its biggest lead at 24-12. Before the break, New York was within six points thanks to a jumper hit by Laney-Hamilton with two seconds left.
With 7:48 remaining in the second quarter, Clark made a turnaround fadeaway jumper to give the Fever a 31-20 lead. The Liberty gained their first lead when Jones scored the last five points in a 12-0 run. After a 5:06 scoring drought, Smith responded with a layup to give Indiana the lead back.
Stewart, who this season has defeated the Fever three times on average with 22.7 points per game, sank two free throws in the closing seconds to pull New York to within 39-38 at the break.
With 4:39 remaining in the third quarter, New York led 57-50 after Laney-Hamilton struck a go-ahead jumper and Ionescu responded with a basket and a 3-pointer after Stewart stole the ball. With three seconds remaining, Laney-Hamilton made a pull-up jumper to give the Liberty a 62-55 lead heading into the fourth round.
Clark saw that the Fever are learning to handle disappointment and not give up easily.
“I think the biggest difference has been when teams make runs, we don’t crumble,” Clark said. “We found a way to stay resilient and kind of close the gap.”
Sandy Brondello, the coach of New York, wasn’t pleased with the Liberty’s first attitude.
“I don’t believe we shown the required urgency to contend. In the last ten games, they are 6-4. In the last moments, they performed better than we did.”
For the first time since winning 92-86 away from home on May 13, 2022, Indiana defeated New York. 50–41 is the Fever’s all-time series lead.
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