
Wales aim to avoid unwanted history against Italy
Wales aims to avoid history in their final Six Nations clash with Italy on May 17.
Caitlin Clark broke out of her shooting slump by hitting five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, but the Indiana Fever lost to the Washington Mystics 104-102 in overtime. Clark's performance highlighted her determination despite the loss.
Caitlin Clark shoots herself out of slump, but Fever defense has her attention after loss
INDIANAPOLIS â No one, other than those on the court, could hear what Caitlin Clark was saying as the Indiana Fever superstar still screamed anyway. It didnât matter that her defiant declarations, evidenced by her flexing and stomping, were being drowned out by the home crowd sheâd just sent into jubilation.
This moment was about more than the game-tying 3-pointer she drilled with 3.1 seconds left against the Washington Mystics. It was a chance for one of the WNBAâs flag bearers to return to a familiar place, where her long-range shooting helped her bend the game to her undeniable will. Clark struggled from distance through the first 11 quarters of the season, missing 18 of her first 23 3-point attempts.
She finally responded on Friday by drilling five 3s in the fourth quarter to force overtime, only for the Fever to still fall 104-102 to the young but poised Mystics. Clarkâs emotions, which bubbled to the surface more than a few times Friday as she drilled an array of deep 3s, were understandably muted after the back-and-forth contest.
âThatâs like the hardest thing as a basketball player is when youâre not making shots, to really stay in it,â said Clark, who scored 17 of her game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter. âSo, Iâm certainly proud of myself. Really, really battled,â
Clark and her teammates had been nearly flawless, at least offensively, with the game on the line. Yet, the defeat still left Clark questioning the Feverâs defensive DNA.
âIt starts with me, and if we donât have three clunky quarters, we donât force ourselves into basketball heroics,â Clark said. âWe donât want to play that way.â
Clark added that she can appreciate the high-intensity moments that often captivate the crowd. Fridayâs game was full of them as the Fever and Mystics had six lead changes in the fourth quarter. There was almost a seventh as Mystics guard , who scored a team-high 30 points, threw in a half-court shot at the end of regulation that was a split-second too late.
Caitlin Clark scored five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, showcasing her return to form despite the Fever's loss.
The Indiana Fever lost to the Washington Mystics with a final score of 104-102 in overtime.
Caitlin Clark struggled significantly, missing 18 of her first 23 3-point attempts in the first 11 quarters of the season.
Caitlin Clark noted that the Fever's defense captured her attention, indicating challenges she faced during the game.

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Washington ultimately held on, with Citron and rookie Cotie McMahon, who made her WNBA debut Friday, each scoring 5 points in overtime. But from Clarkâs perspective, the game wasnât necessarily lost in the extra frame. It was decided much earlier, when the Feverâs defensive effort wasnât up to par, and the Mystics feasted, particularly around the basket. Washington outscored Indiana 58-28 in the paint and, as a result, shot a blistering 56 percent from the field.
Perhaps even more concerning than the Feverâs poor defensive showing against the Mystics is that it wasnât an outlier but an early-season theme. The Fever became the eighth WNBA team in one season to suffer multiple losses when theyâve scored 100-plus points. Indiana has played only three games.
âShots did start falling,â Clark said of Indianaâs fourth-quarter and overtime surge. âAnd I think weâve been letting that dictate how well we play defense too much, which is disappointing for us as a group. We gotta be able to defend all of the time. So, I think thatâs our biggest area of growth. Like, yeah, everyone wants to guard when theyâre making shots. ⊠(But) when things arenât going well, we still gotta be able to defend.â
Fever coach Stephanie White shared the same assessment. At one point, after Citron cut backdoor for an easy layup off an inbound pass late in the third quarter, White called a timeout as her frustration boiled over.
âWe put a lot of pressure on our offense to be perfect when we donât consistently defend,â White said. â⊠Weâre taking chances (on steals), weâre fouling shooters who are about to shoot tough shots, weâve got breakdowns in coverages. We gotta find combinations of players and rotations thatâs net efficiency can be good. We canât wait to play defense in situations where we feel good.â
White, however, commended playersâ resilience, which was spearheaded by fiery leader Clark. The two-time All-Star proved yet again why her spotlight is different than everyone elseâs. When her 3-point shot is falling, sheâs capable of making the near-impossible look routine, and her herculean effort was almost enough Friday.
Almost.
Indiana trailed by eight points with 50.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter before Kelsey Mitchellâs 3-pointer, Myisha Hines-Allenâs layup and Clarkâs seventh 3-pointer pulled the game even. It was an enthralling but heartbreaking finish for Indiana, the type that can build character or break it if the Fever donât take a hard look in the mirror.
âIt just comes down to defense and a will to defend and getting stops,â Clark said. âThatâs whatâs gonna allow us to play in transition and thatâs what you saw in the fourth quarter when we got stops. That was exciting basketball. Thatâs how we want to play all of the time, but it all comes back to us playing defense.â
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Indiana Fever, WNBA
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