INDIANAPOLIS – In the second game of a three-game homestand, the Indiana Fever (1-8) dropped a high-scoring matchup against the Seattle Storm, 103-88, on Thursday evening at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Fever forward NaLyssa Smith recorded her second double-double of the season and finished with a season-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Smith surpassed 1,000 career points in her 72nd career regular season game and posted two assists, two blocks and one steal as well. Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark tallied 20 points, a career-high nine assists, three rebounds and one blocked shot.
Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell totaled 14 points, eight of which came from the first quarter, and four assists. Fever center Aliyah Boston recorded an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double effort while adding five assists. Fever forward Katie Lou Samuelson came off the bench for Indiana to record 12 points. She ended the night tying a career-high with four 3-point field goals made. Indiana shot 20-of-22 from the free throw line and distributed 21 assists on 29 made field goals. Indiana also outrebounded Seattle, 36-32.
Seattle (5-3) outscored Indiana in bench points (26-18), paint points (56-34) and fast break points (17-12) with Storm guards Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith at the helm. Loyd led Seattle in scoring with 22 points and six assists, while Diggins-Smith followed with 18 points, nine assists, two rebounds and two blocks. Diggins-Smith passed Kristi Toliver for 20th all-time in assists with 1,302 distributions, eclipsing Toliver with 1,301 assists.
Storm forwards Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor both aided in Seattle’s win with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Ogwumike recorded six rebounds, six assists and two steals and Magbegor tallied eight rebounds, three assists, four blocks and three steals.
UP NEXT
The Fever host the Chicago Sky on Saturday at Noon ET. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Originally posted on fever.wnba.com