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Alexa Philippou
INDIANAPOLIS — In the highly anticipated first matchup between No. 1 draft picks Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers as pros, it was Clark and the Indiana Fever who came out on top Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse — and in historic fashion.
The Fever rattled off a franchise-record 64 first-half points behind a 36-15 second quarter, taking control of the game and never looking back in a 102-83 victory.
Clark, the 2024 No. 1 pick, finished with 13 of Indiana’s 30 assists on 40 makes — a season-best mark for her and a Fever record for a regulation game. It was also Clark’s 17th career 10-assist game, but her first with no more than two turnovers.
After being sidelined with injuries on two separate occasions this season — and missing the first Fever-Wings matchup in June — Clark is still looking to rediscover her typical shooting form. She finished 4-for-12 from the field and 2-for-7 on 3-pointers to score 14 points. But the two-time All-Star was pleased with her facilitating and effort on the defensive end, where she helped set the tone for the Fever and came away with five steals.
No play got the Fever fans on their feet more than when Clark blocked JJ Quinerly’s layup attempt early in the second quarter and then found a rim-running Sophie Cunningham with a beautiful three-quarter-court dime.
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“I still probably didn’t shoot it as good as I would have liked, but I feel like it’s coming. Just trying to continue to get my legs under me,” said Clark, who played her third game following a two-week absence. “I thought my playmaking was really good. There was no reason for me to really shoot that much. … [We were] just very balanced, and people executed.”
Bueckers, the 2025 No. 1 pick, led all scorers with 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting, good for the fourth-longest streak of double-figure scoring to start a WNBA career (17 games). The rookie of the year favorite added 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, though she also committed 4 turnovers.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Fever clamped down defensively and demolished the Wings in transition, putting together a 25-4 run and ultimately going into the half up 64-42. The 21 points marked Indiana’s best point differential in any quarter since 2016, and the Fever’s 64 points were the most any WNBA team has scored in a half this season.
Indiana shot 52% on the day, scored 23 points off 18 Wings turnovers and tallied a season-high 58 points in the paint.
“Some turnovers, and then just their physicality in general got into us,” Dallas coach Chris Koclanes said of his team’s second-quarter collapse. “Their physicality really, really bothered us in stretches, and kind of took away our flow and continuity. But then again, no excuse for not getting back. I just think we could have had greater effort more consistently in transitions.”
The Fever led by as many as 29 in the third quarter and finished with five players in double figures for the fourth time this season, led by a combined 55 points from Kelsey Mitchell (20), Natasha Howard (18) and Aliyah Boston (17).
“I think we were just firing on all cylinders, moving the ball well, getting to the next action, playing out a pick and roll well,” Clark said. “And then our defense was good and got us a lot of buckets in transition.”
Added Indiana coach Stephanie White: “For us to play in transition, we’ve got to lock in on the defensive end. And the ball was moving — we were playing close to .5 basketball in that second quarter.”
After a putrid offensive showing on Wednesday in which the Fever (11-10) managed just 61 points with a 30% shooting clip, Indiana has now scored 201 points across its past two games. White said she is “pleased with our progress” as the team looks to solidify its identity.
Dallas (6-16) saw the return Sunday of Arike Ogunbowale from a thumb injury that sidelined her for three contests, but the four-time All-Star struggled to find her shooting stroke. She finished with two points and missed all 10 of her attempts from the field — the most field goal attempts without a make in her career.
“You could tell she hadn’t played in a bit. I wish some [shots] would have fallen early for her,” Koclanes said. “She’s got to continue to find that balance of really working hard to get up the floor and get spots and get off actions, and then I’ve got to continue to help her.”
Added Bueckers: “This was the best since I’ve been here that she’s responded to [shooting woes]. It might not have been her night shooting the ball, but the way she continued to stay in the game, not let it affect her effort on both ends of the floor, her being a leader of this team, that was huge for me to be able to see that.”
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