Caitlin Clark’s rookie campaign in the WNBA is now over. (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Caitlin Clark’s rookie season is now over.
Alyssa Thomas and the Connecticut Sun closed out their opening-round playoff series against Clark and the Indiana Fever on Wednesday night. The Sun held on in a tight battle in the final minutes to grab an 87-81 win over the Fever at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, in Game 2 of their series.
The victory, which followed a 24-point win in Game 1 on Sunday night, pushed the Sun into the semifinals for a sixth straight season. They’ll now take on either the Minnesota Lynx or the Phoenix Mercury in the next round. As for Clark and Indiana, which was playing in its first postseason since 2016, they’ll now head home to Indianapolis.
The Sun led by 11 points early in the fourth quarter, but they let Clark and the Fever rally right back and briefly take the lead late in the period — which came after a huge 3-pointer from Clark.
But the Fever’s push to extend their season eventually came up short. The Fever made just two buckets in the final two minutes of the game, both of which were layups, and both DeWanna Bonner and Marina Mabrey added 3-pointers to give the Sun the lead once again. From there, they pushed ahead to grab the six-point win and secure their spot in the semifinals.
Clark finished with 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds in the loss. She shot 10-of-23 from the field and 3-of-12 from behind the arc. She is also just the second rookie in league history, joining Maya Moore, to drop 25 points, five assists and five rebounds in a playoff game. Aliyah Boston added 16 points and 19 rebounds, and Kelsey Mitchell finished with 17 points. They were the only three players to hit double figures for Indiana.
Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 19 points and 13 assists, which came after she dropped a triple-double in Game 1. Mabrey added 17 points, and Bonner finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
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Caitlin Clark’s rookie season comes to a close right where it started in Connecticut. This is a young group with a core in Clark and Boston poised to compete for championships in a few years. But it takes losses like this to get there. Expect the Fever to add a vet with deep playoff experience in the offseason, possibly in that 3 or 4 position should they re-sign Mitchell (UFA).
Mitchell goes into a paint of black jerseys and Sun are back at the free throw line. DeWanna Bonner puts two more points on the board and this feels done. Everyone here is on their feet.
Mitchell misses another 3, Sun grab the rebound and Indiana fouls DiJonai Carrington to put her on the line and stop the game. She makes both to push it to a six-point lead for Connecticut.
Two bad turnovers by Indiana. Hull throws it away on an out of bounds play. Mitchell throws it away after snagging her own rebound on a short 3. And Marina Mabrey (who else?) drills the 3 on the other end to push the lead to four with 45.5 seconds on the clock.
It’s another monster game for Boston. Clark and Boston are the youngest on this young team and not far removed from clutch March Madness moments. Sun lead, 78-77, with 1:28 to go.
TIE BALL GAME
The cheers lingered long after Clark’s 3 gave Indiana the 71-70 lead. She led Indiana back with a fadeaway, rebound and hockey assist on Fagbenle 3 (Hull gets the assist). She’s up to 25 points, seven assists, six rebounds.
Marina Mabrey answered on the other end with a 3, Fagbenle ties it at 73 off a Boston assist. It’s going to be a good final three minutes.
CAITLIN CLARK GIVES INDIANA THE LEAD ON A 3!
4Q: Sun 68, Fever 63
Fever have kept it around a seven-point deficit seemingly all of the second half. Dantas and Fagbenle are involved in the offense the last few possessions, but they can’t let the ball get stuck. AT (19p/10a/5r) shut down Fagbenle, who had trouble with ball control, repeatedly on a few possessions back and committed a shot clock violation. Indiana’s defense needs to get stops to make this up and force Game 3.
4Q: Sun 61, Fever 52
Two more buckets for Thomas (16p/10a/5r) and it’s a nine-point lead for the Sun with seven players in points.
Clark is up to 20 points, six assists, five rebounds. Boston (12p/17r) and Mitchell (10p) are also in double figures, but Hull is 1-5 from 3-point range and Fagbenle hasn’t scored. The only bemch points are two Wheeler free throws.
3Q 2:03 | Sun 57, Fever 50
Alyssa Thomas is up to 12 points, 10 assists, four rebounds for the Sun
Caitlin Clark’s dominant first half wasn’t enough to give the Fever the first half lead vs. the Sun ☀️
Fever quickly tie it at 41, forcing the Sun to take a timeout at 8:19. Lexie Hull 3 on a Clark assist, Clark drive, Boston cut off a Clark assist
HALF: Sun 41, Fever 34
Caitlin Clark leads all scorers with 14 points (5-12/2-7). She and Kelsey Mitchell (7 points, 3-8 overall) played all 20 minutes of the first half. Clark looked frustrated at the end of the half that Erica Wheeler was bringing the ball up on quick inbound passes from Boston.
Connecticut has the Fever on the same scoring pace as the first game, which was near a season-low for the Fever. White said pre-game with Mabrey in the starting lineup, they’d have to find her reserve energy elsewhere. That’s clearly Veronica Burton, whose eight points are one off Mabrey’s team-high nine. She’s played 11 minutes.
