Fever earn first win as Caitlin Clark, Stephanie White joke about defense
Indiana responded from its opening-night loss by controlling the Sparks from start to finish for an 87-78 win.
Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White and All-Star guard Caitlin Clark shared a fun, playful moment Wednesday after the Fever captured their first win of the season.
One game after yielding 107 points in a loss to the Dallas Wings to open the season, the Fever held the Los Angeles Sparks to 78 points in an 87-78 victory. Asked about the defensive improvements, White hesitated.
“Ehhhh,” she began.
Clark jumped in. “We only gave up 78 points. We're going to win a lot of games if we do that. What do you want?”
“I want more,” White replied. “Coaches always want more..."
Clark, smiling, responded: “She's insane.”
Defense is the focus this season, but Clark is always locked into the offensive end. After all, it’s her specialty. She led the Fever with 24 points and nine assists in the win, evening their record at 1-1.
Clark was also issued her first technical foul of the season, then said afterward that she learned her lesson. Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the first three technicals come with a $500 fine. It goes up from there.
The Fever took the lead early and never relinquished it, nearly posting a wire-to-wire road win.
Kelsey Mitchell added 23 points and Sophie Cunningham chipped in 12.
The Fever grew their lead to 21, but it was trimmed to seven late in the fourth quarter as the Sparks, led by Kelsey Plum and her 25-point effort, went on an 11-3 run. Indiana held them off in the final 90 seconds.
Starting forward Monique Billings, back home in Los Angeles, made her Fever debut after sitting out the opener due to a right ankle sprain. She finished with nine points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes.
That production was needed because center Aliyah Boston battled foul trouble and eventually finished with four points (all from the free-throw line) and seven rebounds before fouling out in 23 minutes. It was her first disqualification in a regular-season game since her rookie season. She is now in Year 4.
The Fever’s top priorities remain defense (the Sparks shot 49%), transition defense (Indiana was outscored 11-2), and turnovers (17 turnovers leading to 14 Sparks points).
Still, it was the first of many wins the Fever hope to collect this season, and every road win carries added importance.
Officiating remains a major talking point around the league. A new task force was created, and officials are calling more fouls in an effort to enforce freedom of movement. Consistency is key, White stressed postgame, but this is a positive step toward what all parties are wanting.
There will continue to be growing pains in the meantime.
It was also an unusual one-off trip, sending the Fever all the way to the West Coast for just one game. Typically, a trip like that includes at least two additional stops, such as Seattle, Portland, Golden State or Phoenix. But not this time.
The trip was made for television as part of USA Sports’ first doubleheader after acquiring a WNBA television package this season — one that even includes rights to select WNBA Finals games.
Up next, the Fever host the Washington Mystics on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET), the start of a four-game homestand over eight days.
Watch my recap of the game, along with the postgame press conference featuring White, Clark and Mitchell, below: