NaLyssa Smith scored 18 points and Caitlin Clark had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists Saturday as the Indiana Fever won their first home game of the season, 71-70, over the Chicago Sky.
Indiana (2-8) snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 1-4 at home on Pride Day and in the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup game. The Fever closed it out with Erica Wheeler running down the final 6.6 seconds on the clock before passing to Clark, who tossed the ball high into the air.
Clark turned the tables on two of her college rivals — former LSU star Angel Reese and former South Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso, each of whom beat Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the last two Division I national championship games.
Chennedy Carter had 19 points and six assists to lead the Sky (3-4). Marina Mabrey finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Reese finished with eight points and 13 rebounds, while Cardoso had 11 points and six rebounds in her regular-season professional debut.
Dana Evans had a chance to force overtime but missed the first of two free throws with 6.6 seconds to go. Chicago never got the ball back and finished the game on a 12-2 run.
But this contest was about far more than scores, stats or in-season tournament results.
It featured three of the top seven picks from the April…