Fever’s Caitlin Clark finds 3-point stroke late to force OT
INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark casually arced across the 3-point line earlier than sprinting for a handoff from Myisha Hines-Allen and connecting on a score-tying triple with 3.1 seconds remaining to force additional time Friday night time.
The Fever star took three quarters to discover her groove earlier than carrying Indiana into the additional interval. The Fever lost 104-102 to the Washington Mysticshowever Clark lastly discovered his 3-point shot after going 3-for-16 from past the arc within the first two video games of the season.
“I felt like I could have made another, like, five,” Clark mentioned. “They’re all right there, and obviously it was great to break through and get someone to go down.
“That’s the toughest factor as a basketball participant, whenever you’re not making pictures, to actually keep in it. So I’m definitely happy with myself — actually, actually battled. And a whole lot of these pictures are very, very makeable.”
Clark finished with 32 points, eight assists and four rebounds while shooting 7-for-17 from 3-point range. She put up 17 points, including five 3-pointers, in the fourth quarter while helping the Fever (1-2) erase a nine-point deficit after the opening three quarters.
The 2024 No. 1 pick admitted that a slow start from deep in the first two games may have affected his mindset.
“I believe I began hesitating a bit of bit and doubtless hesitated a bit of bit to begin the season,” Clark said. “I do not want to try this. I’m finest when I’m simply letting it fly.”
Through the first three quarters, Clark was 2-for-15 from the field, and she visibly slumped her shoulders after missing another 3-point attempt early in the third quarter. But in the fourth quarter, the two-time All-Star showed everyone how quickly she can heat up.
Back-to-back triples. A steal that led to a bounce pass that led to free throws. An assist before draining another 3. An interior layout and assist in transition to Kelsey Mitchell. A pair of 3-pointers, including the score-tying shot, that bracketed another assist.
The biggest problem for Indiana was giving up over 100 points for the second time in three games.
“We’ve been letting [making shots] how properly we performed protection an excessive amount of,” Clark said dictated. “Which is disappointing for us as a gaggle. …When issues aren’t going properly, we have nonetheless received to give you the option to defend and discover methods to get stops, and we’ve not executed that very properly to this level.”
Fever coach Stephanie White added, “We put a whole lot of strain on our offense to be good once we do not constantly defend.”
On the opposite end, the Mystics (2-1) continued to show they will be a tough out despite being the youngest team in the WNBA.
Sonia Citron scored a career-high 30 factors to go together with six rebounds and 4 assists. Kiki Iriafen posted a career-high 25 factors and 13 rebounds, and Shakira Austin completed with 19 factors, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
Cotie McMahonthe No. 11 choose within the 2026 draft, had 13 factors, 5 rebounds and two assists in his debut after lacking the primary two video games of the season with a left elbow sprain.
