BREAKING: Caitlin Clark records her second career double-double as the Fever defeats the Washington Mystics 88-81
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Wednesday night’s 88-81 victory over the saw Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston score 22 points, while Caitlin Clark recorded her second career double-double. The Indiana Fever have now won three straight games.
For the Fever (5–10), Clark had 18 points, a career-high 12 rebounds, six assists, and four steals. She made six turnovers as well. In a huge second half, Erica Wheeler scored nine points off the bench and NaLyssa Smith added eleven points.
With five straight victories, Indiana is on a four-game home winning run for the first time since August 2015.
The Mystics (2-12), without injured stars Brittney Sykes and Shakira Austin, were led by Ariel Atkins with 27 points. Stephanie Dolson scored 14 points, while Karlie Samuelson scored 16.
With seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Emily Engstler’s three-point shot helped Washington come back from a nine-point deficit to tie the game at 68. With five minutes remaining, Wheeler made it 77-68 thanks to a jumper from Clark, who also had a steal that allowed Wheeler to feed Mitchell for a basket.
At 3:25, Wheeler’s pullup increased the lead to 82–71. With just twelve seconds left, Clark sealed the victory with two free throws.
Indiana ended the first half with a 46-53 advantage at the intermission, never trailing but never leading by more than seven points. The Fever shot 55%, with double-figure scoring from Smith, Mitchell, and Boston, and nine points and eight rebounds from Clark.
The Mystics shot 0 for 8 from 3-point range in the opening quarter and then sank six in the second, with Atkins scoring 15 and Samuelson scoring 13. After 34 attempts, they had 11 in the end (32%).
The third quarter saw more of the same until Boston made a rare, late 3-pointer to increase the margin to nine points. It was her fourth 3-pointer of the year. After making 10 free throws in the first half, the Fever made 11 more in the third quarter to take a 68-59 lead.
