Caitlin Clark recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Indiana Fever overcame a double-digit first half deficit to pick up their first win of the season, defeating the Los Angeles Sparks 78-73 on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Clark gave the Fever a commanding 76-71 lead with 40.1 seconds remaining after nailing a step-back three-pointer in front of a Sparks franchise record of 19,103 in attendance.
“The crowd was absolutely amazing, especially there at the end,” said Clark, who also had eight assists. “They were into it, they were invested.”
The Fever (1-5) snapped a five-game losing streak with the win while Los Angeles dropped to 1-3 on the year with the loss.
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Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 18 points and Aliyah Boston and Temi Fagbenle each added 17 points apiece for the Fever.
“It just shows our hard work, we’ve been working, it’s been due so just really glad we were able to get this [win] on the road,” said Boston.
Clark, the 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick took the floor against No. 2 pick Cameron Brink and No. 4 pick Rickea Jackson of the Sparks.
“I’m just grateful that everyone is starting to support women’s basketball but we didn’t get the win so I’m not excited or ecstatic about that but I feel like we’re going to keep growing and learn from our mistakes,” Jackson said.
Brink finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks and Jackson added a career-high 16 points off the bench for the Sparks.
“Cam’s line 15 and 9 and I think she could have been even more dominant. And Rickea made some big baskets for us, so you see the potential, they’re going to be big for us all year,” said Sparks coach Curt Miller on his rookie duo.
Both teams struggled from long-range as the Fever converted 7 of 25 shots while the Sparks also made only 5 of 24 three-pointers.
Dearica Hamby recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds for Los Angeles.
“I think we showed our vulnerability to our youth,” Hamby said. “Lack a little bit of composure, kind of going away from the things that was working in the first half and we let the frustration of not being able to score the ball dictate our defense and we can’t do that.”
Los Angeles lost the turnover battle 19-11 and also were outscored 14-4 in fast break points.
The Sparks led 22-14 after the first quarter and jumped out to an 11-point advantage at halftime, 45-34. However, the Fever opened the third quarter on a 16-3 run to take a 50-48 after a Fagbenle three-pointer.
“We talked about winning the third quarter and being the team that would be in attack mode in the third and play with physicality and I just thought that third quarter set the tone for the rest of the game that we got out-toughed at both ends of the court,” said Miller after being outscored 19-11 in the third.
Mitchell made back-to-back threes in the fourth to give the Fever 63-58 advantage with just under six minutes to play.
Brink hit a three and Lexie Brown made a lay-up with 1:00 minute to play to get within two, 73-71 but it was Clark who drained her second long-distance three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to regain a 76-71 lead while lifting the Fever to its first win of the season.
“It just showed our resiliency. Down 11 at halftime and nobody hung their head,” said Clark. “Great start to the second half, really just battled, good win for us.”
“Nights like tonight just remind me of why I love playing basketball and why I started playing basketball,” Clark added. “You get a win and you walk off the floor and there’s so many young kids just screaming your name and love getting to watch you.”
