Caitlin Clark drops 22, but Fever fall to Liberty, remain winless - ESPN

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The result may have been the same, but 2024 No. 1 WNBA Draft pick Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever's 91-80 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday, which dropped them to 0-3 on the season, was their most promising performance yet.

Clark and the Fever took on head coach Christie Sides' challenge following their 36-point defeat to the Liberty Thursday: compete and play with more pride. Despite falling behind by 23 midway through the third quarter on Saturday, Indiana cut the deficit to a respectable 11 points by the game's end, ultimately outscoring the 2023 WNBA Finals runners-up 43-34 in the second half.

Clark, NCAA Division I's all-time leading scorer, finished with 22 points on 9 for 17 shooting (4 for 10 on 3-pointers), the most points and her best efficiency in a game of her young pro career, while adding eight assists, six rebounds, one steal and committing eight turnovers.

«I thought I came out and just played harder, and I think that's going to be just my biggest focus going forward,» Clark said. «Just come out and compete and play hard. I thought our whole group did that.»

«Lots of growth from the night before last til today,» Sides added of the team. «The word was compete, that was the word of the day. I asked them what that felt like, sounded like, looked like. I thought that's what it was for us tonight.»

In their first home game of the 2024 season, and in front of a sellout crowd of 17,735, the Liberty improved to 3-0 on the year. Reigning MVP Breanna Stewart led all scorers with 24 points.

The Fever struck early, their offense looking the best it's been all season in the first quarter, where Clark scored 10 points and dished out three assists in that frame alone. It helped to have