Caitlin Clark scored the tiebreaking basket with 1:27 remaining and the Indiana Fever halted an 11-game losing streak against Connecticut with an 84-80 victory over the Sun Wednesday night at Indianapolis.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 23 points to set an Indiana franchise record with five straight games of 20 or more points. Clark had 19 points, five rebounds and five assists as the Fever (15-16) won for the sixth time in the past eight games.
Lexie Hull made four 3-pointers and recorded 17 points and eight rebounds for Indiana, which beat the Sun for the first time in four tries this season. The Fever had last beat Connecticut on July 3, 2021.
DiJonai Carrington scored 19 points and Alyssa Thomas had 17 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Sun (22-8). Marina Mabrey added 16 points and DeWanna Bonner had 13 as Connecticut’s three-game winning streak ended.
Clark’s 3-pointer 2:43 into the contest was her 86th of the season, breaking the rookie record set by Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard in 2022. She finished the game with 3-for-12 from deep.
Indiana went up 82-80 late in the fourth on Clark’s driving basket. The Sun squandered a chance to tie when Temi Fagbenle forced a Thomas turnover with 24 seconds left.
Hull made two free throws with 19.1 seconds remaining to make it a four-point margin before the Fever closed it out.
Indiana shot 47 percent from the field, including 13 of 30 (43.3 percent) from 3-point range. Aliyah Boston had 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and NaLyssa Smith added 10 points. Mitchell made four treys for the Fever.
The Sun hit 45.5 percent of their shots and were 8 of 24 from behind the arc. Mabrey led Connecticut with four triples.
Mitchell scored 13 first-half points as Indiana led 51-42 at the break.
The Sun started the second half strong, scoring eight straight points and 12 of the first 14 to take a 54-53 lead on Bonner’s layup with 6:52 left in the third quarter.
Indiana answered with a 9-2 push that Clark capped with a 3-pointer to give the Fever a 62-56 advantage with 4:02 left in the period.
Carrington responded with a trey for the Sun before Clark’s basket and Mitchell’s 3-pointer gave Indiana a 67-59 lead with 2:09 remaining.
The Fever led 69-66 entering the fourth quarter.
–Field Level Media