After winning four of their last five games, the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark were brought back down to earth on Saturday night against a talented and resilient Minnesota Lynx roster.
The Fever finished with four scorers in double-digits, but a dominant display from four-time All-Star Napheesa Collier was too much to overcome.
Clark has been in the headlines for all the right reasons after some astonishing displays this season.
On this occasion, however, the 22-year-old rookie could only tip her cap to USA gold medalist Napheesa Collier.
“She does so much for her team. There were a few times she made a few shots and I caught myself like ‘dang, can’t guard that,'” said Clark during a postgame interview.
After a poor first quarter, where they fell behind 29-16, Indiana fought back to reduce the deficit to one point going into the half. Unfortunately, that was as close as they would get.
The Lynx shot 50 percent from the field as a team to pull away in the second half and close out the game 90-80.
Collier finished the night with a game-high 31 points on 12-18 shooting from the field. She also chipped in with five rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Clark finished with 23 points, eight assists, five rebounds and a steal.
The win means the Lynx continue their winning streak and have now gone six straight games without a defeat. The Fever remain in seventh place with a 13-16 record.
Caitlin Clark is looking to lead the Indiana Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016
Led by some strong performances by Caitlin Clark, the Fever remain in the playoff hunt as they enter the final quarter of the season. Eight teams will qualify for the WNBA postseason, with Indiana currently holding on to seventh-place. The Fever, however, will be wary of a Chicago Sky team that is now only 1.5 games behind in the standings.
After an underwhelming 1-8 start to the season, Christie Sides’ team has bounced back to win 12 of their last 20 games.
Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston have been instrumental in transforming this team into a realistic playoff contender. Clark currently leads the roster in points (17.8), assists (8.3) and steals (1.4), while Boston ranks first in rebounds (9) and blocks (1.4). Mitchell is averaging an impressive 17.7 points per game.
Fever have missed out on the postseason since 2016 and will be desperate to break their long-standing playoff drought this year.
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Source: USA Today
