by Madie Chandler
After becoming the WNBA’s first rookie to post a triple double on Saturday, Caitlin Clark followed her historic outing with another monster performance. She notched 29 points, five rebounds, and 13 assists in the Fever’s loss against the Mystics, making her the WNBA’s first-ever player to record over 25 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, five steals, and five 3-point makes in a game.
Clark’s fourth quarter heroics pushed Indiana to within three points of the lead in the final minutes, but Indiana would ultimately fall, 89-84.
“It’s really hard to win basketball games when you have 23 turnovers, especially when they lead to 23 points,” Clark said. “…We really fought, and we battled, and we didn’t give up. But in this league that’s still going to be really hard to overcome.”
Indiana’s stellar fourth quarter was spoiled by its first three, as the Mystics pushed the lead to 22 points near the end of the third frame.
“You can have a bad quarter, but you can’t have three bad quarters,” coach Christie Sides said. “…One quarter, ok, we can manage that. But not a second or a third.”
Indiana allowed Washington to score 76 of their 89 total points in the first three quarters alone, forcing the Fever to scramble for a comeback in the fourth.
Clark scored 15 of her 29 points in the final quarter, a segment in which the Fever outscored the Mystics, 29-13. The effort wasn’t enough to overcome a devastating 23 turnovers from Indiana, however, which led to 23 points for Washington.
“I wasn’t going to give up,” Clark said. “…It’s still really hard to win. You need everything to fall in your favor to really be able to complete the comeback…I wasn’t going to give up.”
Clark recorded her fourth consecutive double-double in the contest, giving her the WNBA’s second-longest streak of double digit points and assists games. The longest streak belongs to the New York Liberty’s Courtney Vandersloot, who recorded six such games.
She also became the fastest guard in WNBA history to record 20 career blocks as she gathered three stuffs in the matchup. Those blocks also make her the league’s only rookie with 20 steals and 20 blocks this season. Clark added five steals to her defensive statline on Wednesday, and two of those steals came in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter. She led the Fever to a near-comeback as they scrapped to salvage an unglamorous outing.
“If you’re going to be the point guard, then you have to be vocal for your team,” Clark said. “…I want to motivate them and encourage them and be somebody that they can lean on.”
Clark’s performances on the court are proving her reliability to her teammates as she averages 16.1 points and 7.4 assists per game on the season. If those numbers hold, she’ll be the first WNBA player to average over 16 points and seven assists in the league’s history.
Her numbers for the month of July are historic, too – 20.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 12.3 assists per contest. If she continues her recent success, Clark will own the WNBA’s first-ever 20-point and 10-assist month as well.
Though Indiana lost to Washington on Wednesday, Clark is still a historic talent on a developing team. The Fever will shift their focus to Friday evening, when they’ll host the Phoenix Mercury at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as the Mercury look to avenge a loss earlier in the season.
“This is a great league,” Sides said. “Every team is good regardless of their record…and we continue to get better.”
Originally posted on fever.wnba.com