WASHINGTON – Caitlin Clark was alone with the ball, in front of the logo with the game on the line.
As frustrating as this season has been at times for him and the Indiana Fever, this was Clark’s comfort zone – and the shot just missed the net.
Clark’s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left gave Indiana a 78-76 victory over the Washington Mystics on Monday night — and gave the 24-year-old star time to sign off following a strong stretch early in his third season.
“I think sometimes we take quality players for granted, and production talent,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said. “What he did was amazing for us. He’s going to have more moments like this. I know he is. And we needed this tonight.”
Indiana was just 5-5 entering the game. Clark was filling up the stat sheet but he wasn’t shooting the ball well. As always, he has been under the microscope, having to answer for heated exchanges with White and receiving criticism from national columnists for his occasional history on the court.
The online chatter around him feels almost tribal at times, but in front of a packed crowd at Washington’s CareFirst Arena, he contributed to another electric situation. White was asked if the three-game winning streak could quiet the “noise” around Clark, but that may not happen.
“I don’t know if the noise will ever stop,” White said. “This is what Caitlin does. She makes big shots, and she has big moments.”
After scoring 10 points in the first quarter, Clark was subbed out due to foul trouble. His four-point play in the third pushed Indiana’s lead to 17, but the Mystics held on.
Down by one with 36 seconds left, Clark missed two straight free throws, but before another round of talk could begin, Washington turned the ball over and Clark calmly found Kelsey Mitchell in transition to give the Fever the lead.
Then Sonia Citron made two free throws with 4.3 seconds to play, putting the Mystics up 76-75. Indiana called a timeout, and Sophie Cunningham’s pass crossed the court to Clark, who was left alone after Washington’s Cotie McMahon missed a steal. It was perhaps the biggest shot of her WNBA career.
“You better do this,” Clark thought at the time. “Because I missed a free throw. All those plays are the plays we work on after practice, so everybody knows their role, everybody knows what they’re going to do.
“Cotie almost got the fingers,” Clark added. “It worked out really well that he went for the steal. It was honestly probably the most open shot I got all night. My hands got a little clammy, but I kept going in, I think.”
Teammate Lexie Hull was in the opposite corner, with a good opening on the right, but unsurprisingly the ball went to Clark.
“In my opinion, I thought Cotie was going to get it,” Hull said. “Then it slipped, I’m still holding my breath, I have full confidence that it will go in, but to see it go in and put us ahead, it was one of the biggest moments we’ve had this season, we’re very happy.
“And just for Caitlin, I’m so happy to see her doing well.”
