Caitlin Clark Breaks Franchise Scoring Record in Fever Come From Behind Victory

Caitlin Clark rewrote the Indiana Fever (15-10) single game scoring record, and her own career high, as her squad overcame a late eight points deficit to hold off the Seattle Storm (6-21) from the upset road victory. The second year guard has struggled with a back injury and careful management of her minutes in the games prior to her offensive explosion against Seattle. Seattle’s young defense was unable to stop Clark down the stretch as its offense spluttered in the final minutes of the game.

It was a 25 foot three from right in front of the Storm’s bench that gave Indiana its first lead since midway through the third quarter after she had blocked a Flau’ja Johnson attempted three on the other end of the court. Monique Billings had tied the game at 102 after she sank the and-one after Awa Fam had fouled her as she drove the lane. The two would be the only ones to score for the home team in the final minute and 11 seconds.

Clark led all scorers with 45 points, while Kelsey Mitchell finished second with 30. For Seattle, the leading scorer was once again Dominique Malonga. Malonga was one of four Storm scorers with double digits while Indiana only three.

Advertisements

Indiana used a 15-6 run to overcome over nearly three minutes to take the lead for good after Clark’s sixth three and the Fever would not surrender the lead over the final minute. Mitchell was a key part of that run as she scored six of those 15 points.

It should have become clear that Seattle was going to struggle hold its lead when the squad was only able to keep pace with the Fever throughout the first six minutes of the fourth. The Storm had scored 10 points through the first half of the final frame, compared to Indiana’s 12. Once Clark heated up down the stretch, that was the ball game.

The Storm closed out the third frame on a 13-4 run to take an 88-82 lead into the fourth thanks to seven points from Johnson, her first points of the game. Back-to-back threes from Awa Fam are what kept Seattle in the game despite Clark and Mitchell hitting threes on successive possessions for Indiana at the start of the third. Jade Melbourne’s steady offensive presence helped keep Seattle’s attack balanced as she consistently provided another option whenever the Fever locked down Malonga or Nathisha Hiedeman – Melbourned finished with 15 points in the loss.

Advertisements

Despite the fact that that Indian was six of 12 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Fever only led by three (59-56) at the half. Seattle closed the second quarter on a 22-7 run in the final six and half minutes after Clark was benched to continue to manager her minutes as the result of a back injury she was recovering from.

A combined 17 points from Malogna and Hiedeman cut into Indiana’s lead to close out the second quarter and make it a game again. The defense was able to lock down Mitchell as she only scored two points in the second quarter. Without Mitchell’s production, and Clark spending most of the quarter on the bench, Indiana didn’t have enough scoring threats on the court to put Seattle away.

Mitchell had 17 of the Fever’s 37 first quarter points in the first quarter as her squad took an eleven point lead into the first break. The guard got off to a hot start as she scored Indiana’s first points of the game and would end up shooting seven of nine from the field. She also scored six of the Fever’s eight points in the quarter.

Indiana would take command in the first quarter with a 8-0 run that forced the Storm to catch up, which they would…repeatedly. The Fever would go on a run before Seattle would catch up with a mini run of there own; and then the cycle would repeat. Despite the fact that the Storm’s offensive attack was efficient, they were unable to keep up with the veteran Indiana squad in the first quarter. Malogna and Johnson were the most consistent scorers for the road squad in the first part of the game.