MINNEAPOLIS — The Caitlin Clark-led Indiana Fever dropped their road game to the Minnesota Lynx 90-80 on Saturday night.
Clark led the Fever with 23 points and eight assists while Kelsey Mitchell added 21 points of her own. Aliyah Boston notched a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Napheesa Collier’s monster 31-point performance led the Lynx while Kayla McBride added 19 points and four three-point shots. Courtney Williams contributed 10 points and 6 assists in the winning effort as well.
“That’s a really good basketball team,” Fever coach Christie Sides said in the post-game press conference. “We are trying to get to where they are.”
Three hours before tip-off, fans of the Fever and Clark already began waiting in lines for the doors to open so they could fill the Target Center. Despite the large influx of outside fans, Lynx fans also showed up in big fashion, leading to a near-sold-out crowd.
As the starters got announced for pre-game introductions, the crowd cheered for every player announced. However, cheers filled the arena most for the hometown Lynx’s starting five and visitor Clark.
The Fever won the tip, and as the ball entered Clark’s hands, the crowd erupted with noise. As both teams traded buckets to start, the crowd cheered for all the basketball action, regardless of who was taking the shot.
As the first quarter progressed, the Lynx got great looks at will. Collier scored a fast 10 points, including a big three and an and-one over Mitchell. After the first media timeout, Clark was scoreless and Collier was dominating the game.
Clark’s first points came at the free-throw line after a foul by former Iowa State Cyclone Bridget Carleton. This gave Clark a little momentum, and she used it to hit a step-back jumper over Natisha Hiedeman to ignite the Fever fans in the crowd and get the Target Center rocking.
Out of the quarter break, the Fever woke up with a big-time pick-and-roll dime from Clark to Damiris Dantas. Mitchell took over through the early moments of the second quarter, scoring seven points, including a full-speed half-court drive at the rim layup over Cecilia Zandalasini.
Clark knocked in her first three of the game late in the second quarter to ignite the split crowd, surging the Fever to a strong end-of-half run where they came back down just one point.
Despite some effective pick-and-roll action from Clark and Boston, the Lynx came out on fire in the third quarter, and Collier split the defense on a tough cutting layup. From here on out, the Lynx never looked back.
Late in the third quarter, Clark committed a traveling violation, resulting in her questioning the referee’s call with her body language. The crowd responded by booing Clark and her reaction and after that, the home fans took over the arena.
Collier and McBride controlled the game down the stretch of the fourth quarter, combining for 12 points in the last six minutes of play. Collier earned MVP chants from her home fans during one final trip to the free throw line.
“[Collier] is the staple of their team,” Clark said in the post-game press conference, “There was a few times she made a few shots and I caught myself like, ‘Dang — can’t guard that,’ and I don’t really do that often.”
