Caitlin Clark suffered from a migraine Sunday, but it was nothing to the headache she gave the Phoenix Mercury.
Clark led the Indiana Fever to an 88-82 victory over the Mercury, which has Olympians Diana Taurasi, Kahleah Copper, and Brittney Griner on its roster.
“It’s amazing what Caitlin’s been able to do in her short career so far,” Taurasi said, according to ESPN.
Clark finished with 15 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.
“The one thing that I really love about her, she loves the game. You can tell she’s put the work in. … It’s been a lot of pressure, a lot of things thrown at her, and she keeps showing up and keeps getting better every single game,” Taurasi said.
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“So her future is super bright, and being a veteran and being in this league for a long, long time, it is pretty cool to see that and go into the future,” she said.
A standing ovation from the Phoenix crowd as Caitlin Clark walks off following her near triple-double performance 🙌#WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/9CIjDEsQUs
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 30, 2024
Indiana was down by as many as 15 points in the second half, but came back to win.
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“I’m just happy we won,” Clark, who did not appear after the game due to her headache, said as she left the court.
The Caitlin Clark effect is wild
— Annie (AB) (@acm794) July 1, 2024
“It was cool to play against [Taurasi] and obviously a really great game. This crowd was absolutely incredible,” she said.
For the Fever, five players scored in double digits, led by Aliyah Boston with 17 points, Kelsey Mitchell with 16, Clark with 15, NaLyssa Smith with 12 and Temi Fagbenle with 10.
After Caitlin Clark leads Indiana to an upset win at Phoenix — with its three (!!!) 2024 Olympians — while drawing unprecedented attention to women’s basketball everywhere she goes, I will say it again: what a mistake to leave her off the US Olympic team. https://t.co/Y7eILOXxCT
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) June 30, 2024
“We continue to tell each other, ‘We’re good, stay here, pay attention to what we have to do,’” Boston said. “Use that as energy for us, not as a distraction, not worrying about if they’re going to foul us hard or not. Every night it’s going to be a battle, so we have to be ready for it.”
“I think what [Clark is] doing for that team right now is pretty impressive,” Taurasi said.
Indiana is currently in the hunt for a spot in the WNBA playoffs, which it last made in 2016.
Indiana is 8-12 for the year after winning six of the team’s last 10 games, according to Sports Illustrated.
