After the Indiana Fever and New York Liberty traded 14 lead changes, Jonquel Jones led the Liberty back from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat the host Fever 90-88 on Saturday.
With the game tied at 88-88 and 10.1 seconds remaining, Indiana (2-2) star Caitlin Clark found DeWanna Bonner under the basket but Natasha Cloud rejected the attempt. The Fever grabbed the rebound, but Kelsey Mitchell misfired on a jumper and the Liberty (3-0) snared the rebound. Sabrina Ionescu attacked the basket, drew a foul on Lexie Hull and converted two free throws with 2.9 seconds remaining.
Clark had the final shot, but Cloud came up big again on defense when she stripped the ball from the Indiana star.
Jones scored 14 of her team-leading 26 points in the fourth quarter, including eight on a 12-2 New York run, to give the Liberty a perfect start to the season. New York featured four players scoring in double figures, with 23 points from Ionescu and 16 points and seven rebounds for Breanna Stewart.
The Fever had erased a 15-point New York lead in the third quarter and with 2:17 remaining, Clark drove to the basket to hit a game-tying layup. It was two of the guard’s 18 points, who also added 10 assists.
For Clark, after not having a single game in her 2024 rookie season without a made 3-point shot, the sophomore guard stretched a drought of deep shooting to 13 consecutive misses, a run that dates back to the fourth quarter of Indiana’s loss to the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday.
Clark’s streak ended in the third quarter in a big way when the guard hit a step-back 3-point shot, plus a free throw after she was fouled in the act of shooting. Then Clark hit a buzzer-beating three to end the third, which gave Indiana a 76-68 lead.
Aliyah Boston led the Fever with 27 points and 13 rebounds.
In the second quarter, New York’s Leonie Fiebich collided with Hull and went to the bench with a left shin injury. The German international missed the remainder of the game after starting the last two games for the Liberty.
–Field Level Media
