In the first post-Olympic game, Caitlin Clark scores 29 points to help the Fever catch up to the playoffs.

Friday night in Indianapolis, Caitlin Clark scored 29 points and disheveled 10 assists as the Indiana Fever took an early lead and held off the Phoenix Mercury to win 98-89.

The Fever (12–15) played their first game since the Olympic break as they maintained their quest for a postseason berth and returned to the WNBA after a nearly month-long hiatus. It was the second game of a back-to-back road trip for the Mercury (14-13). The Chicago Sky was defeated on Thursday night by Phoenix.However, the Mercury’s fortunes was different when facing the Fever. One major reason for this was their inability to contain the Fever’s backcourt defensively.

Together with Clark’s performance, which included her 10th double-double of the year and five rebounds, freshman Kelsey Mitchell scored a game-high 28 points. Aliyah Boston scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the frontcourt, while NaLyssa Smith finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Kahleah Copper scored 32 points for the Mercury, making 18 of her 19 foul line attempts, carrying over her impressive performance from the gold medal game at the Olympics in Paris. Diana Taurasi scored sixteen points, Brittney Griner contributed ten, and Natasha Cloud scored nineteen.

With fewer than two minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Fever took a commanding 30-point lead. During that time, Mitchell scored 10 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, and blocked a shot.In the second quarter, Indiana continued to pour it on, going on a 15–4 run that was highlighted by a long three-pointer from Clark that Boston helped him make and pushing the score to 28 points.

After a 25-7 surge by the Mercury in the third quarter, led by a 3-pointer from Copper with help from Cloud, the team gained a one-point advantage. Before the third session ended, the Fever regained the lead, and in the fourth, they stretched it to as many as 13 points.Indiana outscored the Mercury 34–10 in the paint, won the rebounding battle by eight, and had 23 assists on 34 made points.

The Fever swept the season series and achieved a first: they defeated the Mercury three times in the regular season.