Reserve Kaitlyn Chen scored 12 of her 14 points in the third quarter, as the Golden State Valkyries won their eighth straight, 88-75 over the Indiana Fever on Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
Gabby Williams had 16 points, while backups Tiffany Hayes recorded 13 and Janelle Salaun added 12 for the Valkyries (18-7), who shot 52% while completing a 5-0 road stretch.
Kelsey Mitchell had 20 points, Aliyah Boston scored 15 and Caitlin Clark added 13 for the Fever (14-10), who shot 40% and committed 16 turnovers.
Golden State led 42-30 after Cecilia Zandalasini (10 points) scored the first basket of the second half. However, Indiana recorded the next nine points, including four straight by Clark.
The Fever took their first lead, 47-46, after Sophie Cunningham (10 points) hit two free throws, with 2:31 remaining in the third quarter.
Then, Chen, who entered averaging 7.2 points and played 10 minutes, took over.
She posted 10 points while Golden State scored 12 of the final 16 of the third. Her three-point play in the final 2 seconds gave the Valkyries a 58-51 edge entering the final period.
Salaun knocked down a 3-pointer to open the fourth, and Chen followed with a driving layup to give the Valkyries a 63-51 lead.
Golden State led 80-65 late. Indiana scored the next eight points, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Mitchell, but got no closer.
The Valkyries led 20-18 after one quarter, but Indiana got within 24-23 before a basket from Hayes and 3-pointer from Kayla Thornton (11 points) put the visitors ahead by six.
Meanwhile, Clark’s first bucket of the contest came at the 4:43 mark of the second quarter, when she drove to the basket to get the Fever within 31-27. However, she appeared to be hobbled after drawing contact with Golden State’s Kia Stokes, but no foul, on the play.
Clark showed her frustration when she was whistled for a foul shortly after, then exited and didn’t return before halftime.
Following Clark’s basket, the Valkyries scored nine of the game’s next 11 points — seven coming from Williams — to lead 40-29 before Indiana’s Monique Billings made a free throw to make it a 10-point contest at the break.
Golden State scored the first eight points of the game, and built a 12-2 lead. However, Mitchell had nine points, and the Fever held a 11-6 rebounding advantage to trail by two at the end of the first quarter.
–Field Level Media
