WASHINGTON – Sika Kone scored a new career-high 20 points and the Washington Mystics cruised to a 92-91 victory over Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Thursday night in front of a record crowd of 20,711, the largest in WNBA history.

The Mystics (14-26), who had a 16-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter, entered the regular season finale with a chance of clinching the final playoff spot, but that hope ended when the Atlanta Dream (15-25) won in New York to secure the 8th seed.

Ariel Atkins and Emily Engstler each scored 17 points for Washington, while Brittney Sykes and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough each contributed 12.

Indiana (20-20) had already secured sixth place and pulled its starters midway through the second half. Clark, the record-setting rookie, scored eight points, eight assists and five rebounds in 20 minutes, while Kelsey Mitchell scored four points and was substituted after just five minutes. For Clark, it was the first time since June 13 that she scored less than double digits.

Kristy Wallace led the Fever, who will face No. 3 seed Connecticut in a three-game series starting Sunday, with 17 points. NaLyssa Smith had 16 points and Aliyah Boston and Katie Lou Samuelson each had 10 points.

The attendance record was possible because the game was played at Capital One Arena, which is not the Mystics’ usual home. Washington plays at the Entertainment & Sports Arena, which has a capacity of 4,200 spectators.

Washington made just 3 of 15 shots in the fourth quarter, but Indiana, which consisted mostly of substitutes, missed three shots in the final minute after Wallace scored to make it 92-91 with 1:13 left.

Samuelson missed with 7.7 seconds left and Grace Berger grabbed the offensive rebound but missed a short jump shot as the final siren sounded.

The Fever jumped out to a 20-2 lead early in the game as Washington missed its first 10 shots. A three-point play by Kone with 4:29 left ended that run and Indiana’s lead had shrunk to 24-22 by the end of the quarter.

The Mystics led 52-45 at halftime after shooting 60% of their field goals in the second quarter.

Washington began the second half with a 12-4 run and extended the lead to 82-66 after three quarters.

Although the Fever had clinched a playoff spot two weeks earlier, Mitchell played her 233rd regular-season game prior to her playoff appearance, tying Jia Perkins for the most games played prior to appearing in a playoff game in 2011.