Women’s basketball: A’JA Wilson shines in the Las Vegas Aces victory, while Caitlin Clark creates history once more as the Indiana Fever defeats Phoenix Mercury.
The Indiana Fever won their tenth game, and Caitlin Clark became the first rookie to have at least 20 points and 10 assists twice in a season. The Fever defeated the Phoenix Mercury 95-86 by withstanding a late comeback. A’ja Wilson, meanwhile, kept up her stellar play for the Las Vegas Aces, defeating the Atlanta Dream 84-70. Wilson grabbed 18 rebounds in addition to scoring 33 points.
A 95-86 victory over the Phoenix Mercury by the Indiana Fever saw Caitlin Clark continue to create history.
Clark accomplished the feat for the second time in a row to stand alone as the only rookie to achieve it twice, joining Angel McCoughtry as the only players in WNBA history to have at least 20 points and 10 assists in a game in their first season.
After leading a late rally by Kahleah Copper’s Mercury, Clark finished with 20 points, 13 assists, and six rebounds for her fifth consecutive double-double. The Fever now stand at 10-14 on the year.
Less than two minutes remained in the third quarter when Indiana had an 81-50 lead thanks to 28-point scorer Kelsey Mitchell, but the Mercury rallied with 17 points in a row.
The Fever managed to end Phoenix’s run of three straight victories, but Copper scored 20 of her game-high 36 points in the fourth quarter to help the Mercury trim the advantage to four at one point in the last quarter.
With 21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks, Aliyah Boston was a significant asset for the Fever. Clark, who shot 8 of 16 from the field, tied the team record with 13 assists.
As the Aces defeat the Dream, Wilson shines.
In an 84-70 victory over the Atlanta Dream, A’ja Wilson led the Las Vegas Aces with her sixth 30-plus scoring game of the year, a career-high.
Wilson continued her impressive play, putting up 33 points and grabbing 18 rebounds to help the Aces improve to 15-7 on the year.
The 27-year-old power forward also became the first player in WNBA history to score at least 25 points and grab 10 rebounds in a single season ten times, along with Brittney Griner of Phoenix.
For the Aces, Kelsey Plum contributed 15 points and seven assists, while Jackie Young chipped in with 19 points.
With 17 points after coming off the bench, Cheyenne Parker-Tyus led Atlanta (7-15) in scoring.
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How the Indiana Fever picked up their biggest win of the season vs. New York Liberty…..
How the Indiana Fever defeated the New York Liberty to record their largest victory of the year
At Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon, the Indiana Fever pulled off a historic victory, defeating the league-leading New York Liberty 83-78 after falling down by 11 points in the fourth quarter.
As of right moment, the Liberty are 17-4 while the Fever are 9-13.
The following three observations are made:
Fever wins with a signature
Indiana has been defeating the teams at the bottom of the standings for more than half of the season, which is what it needed to do. Even though the Fever defeated Phoenix and won their first game against a.500 club, the victory was still against a middle-of-the-pack squad.
22 games into the season, Indiana secured a historic victory on Saturday. New York, who leads the rankings right now, suffered only its fourth setback of the year at the hands of the Fever.
With less than five minutes remaining in the game, the Fever was down 75-68, but they quickly rallied with an 11-0 run to grab a 79-75 lead. Sabrina Ionescu, a guard for Liberty, scored a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one point, but on the next play, she missed the opportunity to go ahead. The ball crossed the halfcourt line as the Liberty won the offensive rebound. After an over-and-back call cost the Liberty the lead, free throws ensured the Fever’s win.
The Fever have defeated one of the top three clubs in the league for the first time. Indiana has a record of 0-3 versus Las Vegas and 0-3 against Connecticut.
Fever score: Caitlin Clark records a triple-double as the Indiana Fever defeats the New York Liberty, the WNBA’s top club.
Quick start disappears
The WNBA’s eighth-place club, the Fever, didn’t appear to be playing the top team in the rankings at first.
Thanks to consecutive No. 1 selections by Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark, Indiana jumped off to a 7-0 lead and led 10-1 at the first media break. They lead 24-12 at one point in the first quarter, a 12-point advantage. The Fever’s attack was playing at peak efficiency; Boston and Clark were settling into a groove, and the group had a strong sense of urgency and vision.
Then that start gradually disappeared.
New York began to close the gap at the conclusion of the first quarter with a 6-0 run, and Indiana, who had replacements in the game, spent three and a half minutes without scoring in the second quarter. After a dubious call on Kelsey Mitchell’s inbounds play at the conclusion of the first half, New York gained an additional possession and Stewart made two free throws to officially close the score.
In her first professional triple-double, Caitlin Clark
Again, Caitlin Clark is creating history.
Clark officially reached double digits in all three main categories with 15 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds in the fourth quarter after grabbing her tenth rebound.
In Indiana’s victory over Phoenix, the rookie for the Fever came within a hair’s breadth of a triple-double: she ended with fifteen points, nine rebounds, and twelve assists, but she was unable to secure the game’s last rebound before she exited.
She made sure it wasn’t up to chance this time.
By the half, Clark had already scored 13 points, pulled down five rebounds, and disheveled seven assists. By the end of the third quarter, she had achieved a double-double in points and assists and just needed three rebounds to complete a triple-double. Within the first four minutes of the first quarter, she received those.
It’s the first triple-double for the Fever club and the first in league history for a rookie WNBA player.
In college, Clark was second only to Sabrina Ionescu (who happened to be on the opposite side of the court on Saturday afternoon) with 17 triple-doubles. Ionescu did not have a triple-double during her WNBA debut season, but she did in the ones that followed.
What was Caitlin Clark’s point total versus the New York Liberty?
On Saturday afternoon, Clark finished with 19 points on 7 of 17 shots, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists.
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