INDIANAPOLIS — In a game of runs, the Indiana Fever lost a fiercely contested game against the reigning champion New York Liberty, 90-88, on Saturday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Aliyah Boston had a terrific first half with 17 points, then added 10 more in the second to finish with a game-high 27, along with 13 rebounds. Caitlin Clark had 18 points and 10 assists, and Kelsey Mitchell and Lexie Hull each had 15.
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The Fever are now 2-2 and have a few days off before they head to Baltimore to take on the Washington Mystics at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Here are three observations:
Fever give up double-digit fourth quarter lead
The Fever were up by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter.
But the Liberty never go away without a fight. New York went on a 16-2 run over the course of four minutes, which included two minimallyvguarded 3-point makes by Liberty center Jonquel Jones.
Fever coach Stephanie White called a timeout after Jones’ first wide-open 3-point make, which put New York within one. But Jones made another 3-pointer right out of the timeout, putting the Liberty back in the lead.
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Indiana shaped up after that, though, and essentially went shot for shot with the Liberty — no team could get more than two points ahead.
The dramatic finish came in the final seconds, as all hotly contested games do.
With 20 seconds left, Boston forced a jump ball with Breanna Stewart. Boston won that tip, and the ball got out to DeWanna Bonner, who went up for a layup. She was blocked by Natasha Cloud, a block that arguably was a foul, as Cloud’s hand extended and hit Bonner’s face. Still, the referees didn’t call a foul, and New York got the ball back with 7 seconds left.
As Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu went for a layup, Hull fouled her with 2.6 seconds left. Ionescu made both free throws, and Indiana used its reset timeout to get set for a final play.
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Sophie Cunningham inbounded the ball to Clark, who was being guarded by Cloud. Cloud forced a turnover, which Clark and the Fever thought was a foul, but it wasn’t called. The ball bounced down the court as time ran out, boos raining down from fans as the final score of 90-88, Liberty flashed on the screen.
Caitlin Clark finds 3-point touch again
Clark went cold from 3-point range for the first time in her professional career on Thursday; she was 0 for 5 at Atlanta, marking the first time in her WNBA career (and the first time since her sophomore season at Iowa) that she didn’t make a 3-pointer in a game.
Knowing Clark, that slump wouldn’t last long. She missed the first seven 3-pointers she took against the Liberty on Saturday afternoon, but the lid eventually came off the basket.
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And in momentous fashion. She knocked down her first 3-pointer in six quarters in the third, got fouled in the process, and jumped up to hype up a crowd that had jumped to their feet in excitement. She then made the and-1 free-throw, putting the Fever up five points over the reigning champions.
Watch: Fever star Caitlin Clark breaks 3-point shooting drought in electrifying way
Her second 3-pointer was just as captivating — she beat the third-quarter buzzer with a long-range 3-pointer hyping up the crowd once again as she put Indiana up by eight points, leaving the Liberty stunned.
Her shot wasn’t falling for a while, but it was inevitable that she would find it again.
Fever shake up starting lineup
White made a change to her starting lineup on Saturday, putting Hull in for Bonner.
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Bonner, one of the Fever’s new additions, struggled to score in the first three games of the season. The 37-year-old scored seven points (to get to third all-time on the WNBA scoring list) in the Fever’s first game of the season against Chicago, but hasn’t made a field goal since. She went 0 for 1 against Atlanta on Tuesday and didn’t score a point, then went 0 for 2 with one point off a free throw at Atlanta on Thursday. Her rebounding numbers were strong, though, with eight at Atlanta on Thursday.
Hull has been excelling in the first three games of the season, holding the best plus-minus off the bench and second-best overall in the league at an average of 17. She’s a versatile defender and brings a spark to the lineup, and she can be another scoring option when needed — as evidenced by her scoring five points in six seconds. It also surely helps that Hull was on the Fever with Clark last year; she already knows the system, while Bonner has had under a month to learn how Clark operates on the court.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fever vs Liberty score, Caitlin Clark, Lexie Hull, Aliyah Boston in loss
