The Indiana Fever took a five-point lead into the locker room at halftime but lost to the Minnesota Lynx in frustrating fashion after a flat third quarter that saw them score just 12 points on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
And Caitlin Clark, who poured in 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while setting the franchise record for most threes in a season in a losing effort, admitted to reporters after the game that she needed to do a better job controlling her emotions out on the court.
“I thought I got fouled a couple times there in the second half on mid-range jump shots,” Clark said. “It happens. Sometimes they get calls, sometimes they don’t. It is what it is. I think I settled a little bit too much for mid-raneg jump shots, but I thought I got bumped a little bit and I was honestly trying to shot-fake them to get them to foul me.
“I mean, I think I could have done a little bit better of a job controlling my own emotions.”
One play in particular from the third quarter illustrates Clark’s point perfectly. Clark shot-faked and drew contact from Lynx star Napheesa Collier, but did not get the call from the officials. The Fever rookie then fell to the ground and laid there as the Lynx capitalized on the numbers advantage with a quick, two-point basket on the other end.
While Clark felt that she, and the Fever team as a whole, needed to do a better job of stopping the “snowball effect” of the third quarter, she added that her passion, and the passion of the team, is something she ultimately wouldn’t want to see change.
“I think there’s a line and sometimes your passion, your emotion can get to you,” Clark said. “But that’s never something I would ever change or anybody on our team would change.”
These are valuable learning experiences for Clark and the Fever ahead of the WNBA playoffs, which begin on September 22. Indiana clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2016 earlier in September.
