The Indiana Fever have lost their first two games with Caitlin Clark sidelined.
They will try to avoid a third consecutive loss Tuesday night in Indianapolis in a rematch against the Washington Mystics, the team that handed them their first loss without Clark.
Clark, who has a strained left quad, will miss at least one more game after Tuesday, as more injuries have piled up in the meantime.
Guards Sophie Cunningham and Sydney Colson — Clark’s replacement at point guard — both left an 85-83 loss to visiting and previously winless Connecticut on Friday night with leg injuries that have them listed as day to day.
Head coach Stephanie White said the day-to-day designation was “about as good of news” as the team could have received. But the Fever (2-4) still signed guard Aari McDonald, who was released by the Los Angeles Sparks just before the start of the season, to shore up the backcourt.
“We’re hitting adversity right now,” White said. “It’s challenging, (but) it’s early enough in the season that we’ve got a chance to really find a gut-check moment in who we’re going to be through adversity.”
Brittney Sykes had 21 points and nine rebounds and rookie Kiki Iriafen scored 16 with eight rebounds to lead the Mystics to their 83-77 victory against the Fever last Wednesday. Indiana overcame a 74-59 fourth-quarter deficit by scoring 16 straight points before faltering down the stretch.
The Mystics had a 48-32 advantage in points in the paint against the Fever and an 11-0 edge in fastbreak points.
That victory was the only one in the last five games for Washington, which lost to the New York Liberty 85-63 on Friday night. The Mystics shot just 28.4 percent from the floor and made 4 of 16 3-pointers.
Sykes, as an eight-year veteran, is one of the most experienced players on a young roster.
“You can control your effort and what happens after the miss or the make,” she said. “That’s what I keep telling them in the locker room — it’s all about how you respond.
“They’ve really done a great job, whether it’s end game, the next game or the next practice. I just tell them to keep their heads up and understand that even though we’re young, it’s not an excuse not to grow and it’s not an excuse to make the same mistakes, because then that’s a choice.”
–Field Level Media
