INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever recorded a dominating win over Dallas on Sunday, posting a 102-83 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Five Fever players finished the game in double figures in a balanced scoring effort, including Kelsey Mitchell (20), Natasha Howard (18), Aliyah Boston (17), Caitlin Clark (14) and Sophie Cunningham (12). Clark ended with a double-double, adding on 13 assists.
The Fever are now 11-10, and they’ll go to the East Coast this week for a back-to-back against the Sun in Boston on Tuesday and the Liberty in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Here are two observations:
Caitlin Clark returns to form
As Caitlin Clark ran up the floor less than a minute into the game, she was looking for an easy shot. For her, usually, every shots looks easy. It had been harder for Clark as of late, especially from 3-point range. She’s been injured, her shots hadn’t been falling, and it has been a frustrating stretch of 4-of-35 from beyond the arc in her past five games.
Still, she didn’t stop shooting. And when she saw that first long-range 3-pointer go in, giving Indiana its first points of the game and sending the crowd to its feet, she looked to the ceiling, seemingly in relief.
Clark seemed to play more freely against the Wings, getting further and further through her recovery from a left groin injury. She found her teammates easily, bouncing the ball through multiple defenders to rack up 13 assists in 24 minutes of play.
She was strong defensively, too, highlighted by a block on Dallas rookie JJ Quinerly that turned into a full-court pass to Sophie Cunningham for a layup. Clark added on five steals, with multiple of them coming from errant passes from Paige Bueckers.
It was an all-around offensive and defensive game from Clark — maybe the best all-around game for her this season.
Fever find fire in first half, keep momentum
For about 10 minutes, the Fever and Wings traded baskets. It was an opener of minimal defense, with the Fever taking a one-point lead after the first quarter.
Then, the Fever found another gear. Indiana went on a 27-12 run to end the first half, posting a 36-point second quarter to Dallas’ 15. Indiana led by 22 points at halftime, and its 64 points in the first half were both a franchise record and the most any team has scored in a half this season.
Indiana didn’t let up in the second half, either, keeping a near 20-point lead over Dallas for the rest of the game. It ended up tying for Indiana’s highest-scoring game of the season, matching the 102 points it scored against New York on June 14.
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at capeterson@gannett.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark double-double leads balanced attack as Fever clip Wings, Paige Bueckers
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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