Diana Taurasi on state of WNBA, arrival of Caitlin Clark and Team USA roster
Diana Taurasi stopped by to chat about all-things basketball and her partnership with Sanofi and Regeneron to fight against eczema.
Caitlin Clark followed up her historic triple-double with her sixth double-double of the season, but the Indiana Fever were unable to pull off a massive fourth quarter comeback as they fell to the Washington Mystics 89-84.
The Fever started the game with a 5-0 lead, but the Mystics responded with a 8-0 run to take a lead they would never give up. Washington continued to build the lead in the third quarter with big run and entered the fourth quarter with a 21-point lead, their largest of the game.
Despite the large deficit, Indiana continued to battle and opened the fourth quarter with a 13-1 run to close to within striking distance. A 14-0 run made it a three-point game in the final minute, however, Washington was able to hold off the late rally to avenge their loss to the Fever earlier in the season.
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The Fever had one of the best shooting days of the season with 53.4% of shots made on the day, better than Washington’s 44%. However, turnovers told more of the story.
Indiana turned the ball over a whopping 21 times, resulting in 23 Mystic points. The constant mistakes led to Washington getting way more shots up with 75 attempts compared to Indiana’s 58 attempts. Of those turnovers, eight came in the first quarter, which allowed Washington to get out to a sizeable lead early.
Caitlin Clark stats vs. Mystics
Clark finished the day with 29 points, 13 assists and five rebounds. She fell one point shy of tying her career-high and her 13 assists tied a franchise record she previously has done twice this season as she dealt several flashy passes in the contest. She also record a career-high five steals and tied her career-high in blocks with three.
She also made history Wednesday, becoming the first WNBA and NBA player to record 29 points, 13 assists, five rebounds, five 3-pointers, 5 steals and three blocks in a game.
The No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft had a huge role in the near-fourth quarter comeback with 15 of her points coming in the last frame. She shot 7 for 14 from the field and was 5 for 9 from 3-point land.
The Fever will host the Phoenix Mercury in their next matchup in the second battle between Clark and Diana Taurasi. Indiana has three more games before the All-Star and Olympic breaks.