Caitlin Clark rallied after missing her first seven 3-point attempts on Friday to connect on a pair of critical, deep triples late in the fourth quarter and the Indiana Fever scored their first win of the season with a 78-73 defeat of the host Los Angeles Sparks.
With Indiana (1-5) holding a two-point lead after five quick points from Los Angeles’ Cameron Brink and Lexie Brown, Clark fired from well beyond the 3-point arc with 40 seconds remaining. The long shot effectively put away the win for the Fever after they rallied from an 11-point halftime hole.
Indiana chipped away at the double-digit deficit, ultimately pulling ahead with a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter. Kelsey Mitchell, who scored 13 of her team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, capped the pivotal stretch with a pair of 3-pointers.
After the Fever’s burst, the Sparks (1-3) cut the eventual 69-62 deficit to three when Brink and Rickea Jackson scored four quick points. Brink finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Jackson scored 16 points in less than 21 minutes off the bench.
Clark answered the Sparks’ mini-rally with the first of her crucial 3-pointers, a 33-footer that gave Indiana an important cushion for the final two minutes.
Clark finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, flirting with a triple-double as she dished eight assists. She also came away with a game-high four steals.
Aaliyah Boston and Temi Fagbenle each scored 17 points for Indiana.
Dearica Hamby registered her third double-double in the first four games of the Sparks’ season, going for 18 points and 12 rebounds. She also passed for a team-high seven assists.
The Fever limited Kia Nurse, who came into Friday’s game averaging more than 16 points to start the season, to just four points on 2-of-11 field-goal shooting. Indiana also limited Brown to five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
–Field Level Media
