Caitlin Clark’s rookie season is now over.
Alyssa Thomas and the Connecticut Sun closed out their opening-round playoff series against Clark and the Indiana Fever on Wednesday night. The Sun held on in a tight battle in the final minutes to grab an 87-81 win over the Fever at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, in Game 2 of their series.
The victory, which followed a 24-point win in Game 1 on Sunday night, pushed the Sun into the semifinals for a sixth straight season. They’ll now take on either the Minnesota Lynx or the Phoenix Mercury in the next round. As for Clark and Indiana, which was playing in its first postseason since 2016, they’ll now head home to Indianapolis.
The Sun led by 11 points early in the fourth quarter, but they let Clark and the Fever rally right back and briefly take the lead late in the period — which came after a huge 3-pointer from Clark.
But the Fever’s push to extend their season eventually came up short. The Fever made just two buckets in the final two minutes of the game, both of which were layups, and both DeWanna Bonner and Marina Mabrey added 3-pointers to give the Sun the lead once again. From there, they pushed ahead to grab the six-point win and secure their spot in the semifinals.
Clark finished with 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds in the loss. She shot 10-of-23 from the field and 3-of-12 from behind the arc. She is also just the second rookie in league history, joining Maya Moore, to drop 25 points, five assists and five rebounds in a playoff game. Aliyah Boston added 16 points and 19 rebounds, and Kelsey Mitchell finished with 17 points. They were the only three players to hit double figures for Indiana.
Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 19 points and 13 assists, which came after she dropped a triple-double in Game 1. Mabrey added 17 points, and Bonner finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
