Caitlin Clark’s return spoiled by Fever’s 19-point loss to Valkyries

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Caitlin Clark’s return to the Indiana Fever’s starting lineup after missing the last five games with a left groin injury was spoiled by the Golden State Valkyries Wednesday afternoon. The Valkyries beat the Fever on Camp Day, 80-61.

The Fever’s 61 points is the second-lowest total of the season — the fewest in a home game and the fewest with Clark on the court.

“I felt like our energy and our competitive fire was not there, and that’s disappointing,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said.

A slow and sloppy second quarter cost the Fever their early lead, allowing the Valkyries to outscore them 20-9 in that frame. A mixture of Fever missed shots and bad defense only made the nine-point halftime deficit worse in the second half. Indiana failed to score 20 points in each of the last three quarters, putting up only nine and 10 in the second and fourth, respectively.

“I thought we started really well. I thought we played with energy in the first five minutes, and then, when they kind of went on their first run, it kind of deflated us a little, and I’m not really sure why,” Clark said. “It starts on defense. We struggled scouting report wise. We struggled personnel. We struggled doing what the coaches asked of us… It’s every single person on our team. Nobody played well.”

Clark’s return was a quiet on on the box score. The All-Star captain finished with 10 points, six assists and five rebounds.

“Felt good to be out there,” Clark said postgame. “It’s going to take me a second to get my wind back. There’s not really anything that can replicate it than a true game, and I felt pretty good.”

Fellow All-Star Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever in scoring with 12. Makayla Timpson also contributed 10 off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Veronica Burton and Kayla Thornton paced the Valkyries with a combined 39 points. The Fever defense blanked Thornton in the first quarter, but then came out after the halftime break and scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half.

This is the Valkyries first win outside of the state of California.

The Fever are back in action on Friday when they host the Atlanta Dream at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

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