Kelsey Mitchell has become the perfect running mate for Caitlin Clark in the backcourt, and the two guards have led the Indiana Fever to resurgence since the Olympic break. Now they have Indiana in the playoffs.
The team has won six of seven games and is above .500 for the first time since June 13, 2019. The feverwho improved to 17-16 with Sunday’s victory Victory against Dallashad gone 189 consecutive games without a win, a WNBA record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Indiana secured its first playoff berth since 2016, when Chicago and Atlanta both lost on Tuesday night. The Fever are sixth in the standings.
Mitchell is one of the few players still on the roster from the Fever’s lean years. She joined in 2018 and had never won more than 13 games in a season until this year.
“I know what rock bottom feels like and I don’t want to be there anymore,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell scored more than 20 points in all seven games since the almost one-month break for the games in Paris. She has averaged 28.3 points during that time – the second best performance in the league behind A’ja Wilson. Overall, Mitchell is having her best season, averaging 19 points. Last season, she was Indiana’s leading scorer, when she averaged 18.2 points per game.
“I think Kelsey plays really good basketball. She just makes my life easier when she has that 1-2 combination in the backcourt,” Clark said. “I have a lot of fun playing like that. I think we just play at an up-tempo.”
Mitchell feels the same way and enjoys playing with Clark, who leads the league with 8.4 assists per game.
“I think Caitlin and I and our group just found a way,” Mitchell said. “I think our tempo is what sets us apart from a lot of other teams. Because we want to move the ball down the field at such a high tempo. And I think the way we play makes our games thrive even more.”
The Fever have six straight home games against the last-place Los Angeles Sparks starting Wednesday before their final game of the season in Washington.
AP WNBA Poll
New York remains in the top spot in this week’s AP WNBA Power Poll as the top four teams remain unchanged. Minnesota, Connecticut and Las Vegas followed at the top of the poll. Indiana moved up to fifth, Seattle to sixth. Phoenix, Atlanta and Dallas followed. Chicago dropped to tenth, Washington and Los Angeles rounded out the poll.
Caitlin Corner
Clark had another solid weekaveraged 26.3 points, 9.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds to help the Fever to three wins. She still loses the ball a little too often, averaging 5.7 in the three wins, but the ball was in her hands a lot. Clark also made 13 3-pointers in those games, surpassing Rhyne Howard’s rookie record of 85 he set in 2022. Indiana’s young star now has 98 this season.
Rookie influence
Angel Reese became the WNBA’s best rebounder in a season with eight games remaining. Chicago’s rookie finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds for her 24th double-double, a league rookie record. She has 418 rebounds for an average of 13.1 per game, surpassing Sylvia Fowles’ record of 404 set in 2018. The 6-foot-3 Reese also broke the record for offensive rebounds with 165, surpassing Yolanda Griffiths (162 in 2001).
Cloud locked
Phoenix Mercury defenseman Natasha Cloud will sit out her team’s next game after receiving her seventh technical foul of the season in a loss to Las Vegas on Sunday. Under WNBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game if he or she receives a seventh technical foul during the regular season. For each additional technical foul during that season, the player or coach is automatically suspended for one more game.
Player of the week
Wilson had another impressive series of games and was named AP Player of the Week. The Aces star averaged 36.3 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks to help Las Vegas to a 2-1 victory. Indiana’s Mitchell also received votes.
Game of the week
Las Vegas at New York, Sunday. The Aces have been playing better lately and were fourth in the standings entering the week. They have a big road trip ahead with games in Connecticut and New York before finishing the trip with two games in Indiana.
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AP Sports Writer Schuyler Dixon contributed to this report.
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