Kelsey Mitchell scored a game-high 33 points Saturday night and the Indiana Fever pulled away from the visiting New York Liberty in the second half to earn a 108-88 win.
Mitchell rattled off 14 in the final 5:16 of the third quarter, outscoring New York by herself in the game-changing period. Indiana (16-10) blitzed the Liberty (13-12) 30-12 in the quarter, turning a four-point deficit at halftime into an insurmountable 75-61 lead.
Caitlin Clark, who became the first player in WNBA history to score 45 points and dish out 10 assists in a game on Friday night, contributed 17 points and seven assists after a slow start. Aliyah Boston added 15 points and seven rebounds as the Fever owned the boards 47-39.
Breanna Stewart scored 26 points and grabbed eight boards for New York but also had four of its 15 turnovers. Jonquel Jones netted 13 points — along with five turnovers — while Marine Johannes and Sabrina Ionescu each added 12.
The Liberty came into this one off an unscheduled five-day break after a Sunday loss to Toronto in Montreal. Their game at Dallas scheduled for Thursday night was postponed until Monday due to problems with their charter flight on Wednesday.
New York came into the game with a three-game losing streak but looked like the championship team it’s been in the past. It established a 15-4 lead less than three minutes into the game, making four straight 3-pointers, and took a 28-22 advantage to the second period.
Clark contributed to the early run in the wrong way, picking up her sixth technical foul of the year 90 seconds into the game to earn an automatic $1,000 fine from the league. Two more techs will result in a one-game suspension.
The Liberty pushed their lead to 42-29 at the 2:55 mark of the second quarter when Ionescu sank a foul shot. At that point, Indiana found its footing, getting a six-point play in the middle of a 16-7 push to end the half. That drew it within 49-45 at the break.
–Field Level Media
