Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston scored 22 points apiece, Caitlin Clark had her second career double-double and the Indiana Fever won their third-straight game with an 88-81 victory over the Washington Mystics on Wednesday night.
Clark had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds plus six assists and four steals for the Fever (5-10). Clark credited her teammates for allowing her to have a big night on the boards.
“Sometimes the ball just bounces your way a little bit more,” Clark said. “A lot of the times, the people I’m guarding are getting back on defense, so I have a little more free rein of like going and chasing the ball while our bigs are probably boxing out and hitting a little bit more. So credit to them. I think we’re really good when I can get it off the rim and push in transition, so I take a lot of pride in trying to chase it down off the rim and then really go.”
However, turnovers continue to mar Clark’s record: she had six on Wednesday night and leads the league with 5.5 per game. NaLyssa Smith added 11 points and Erica Wheeler had nine points off the bench for the Fever in a big second half.
Indiana, who have won five of seven have their first four-game winning streak at home since August of 2015.
“The confidence that we’ve been able to build from the last three games is, you know, continue to take a step forward and learn each game, and if we do happen to lose one, how are we going to respond?” Clark said. “That’s been a big thing for us, too. The last game we lost, we found a way to respond and string off three straight wins. I think we’ve gotten a lot better over the course of these last three games and we’re continuing to build on that.”
Ariel Atkins had 27 points to lead the Mystics (2-12), who were missing injured starters Brittney Sykes and Shakira Austin. Karlie Samuelson had 16 points and Stephanie Dolson 14.
Elsewhere on Wednesday night, the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces put their recent struggles behind them as Jackie Young scored 32 points, A’ja Wilson added 27 and they celebrated the return of All-Star point guard Chelsea Gray by defeating Seattle.
Gray, a five-time All-Star and 2020 Olympic gold medal winner who will head to the Paris Games next month, had seven assists, four rebounds and two blocks with one point in 15:30 minutes. Gray missed the first dozen games of the season – as well as the clincher last year when Las Vegas beat the Liberty for their second-straight championship.
“Man I missed this game so much. Never taking it for granted,” Gray said. “It’s a long journey, lots of crying, lots of sleepless nights, a lot of conversations. I’m so thankful to be back on this court.”
Kelsey Plum scored 11 points for Las Vegas (7-6), who have lost four of their last six games.