INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever ended their preseason with an 83-80 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Thursday night.
Indiana will now turn its attention to opening the regular season against Connecticut on May 14th.
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Below are three observations.
Caitlin Clark approaches triple-double
The Fever rookie sensation showed why she'll be making a fuss in her second WNBA preseason game.
She struggled shooting in the first quarter, going 2-of-6 from the field and 0-of-3 from 3-point range. But Clark found another way to contribute, recording four assists in the first nine minutes.
She supports her teammates throughout the game and is already close to achieving a triple-double, a goal she specialized in in college. She recorded 17 triple-doubles in her four years at the University of Iowa, second most in Division I women's basketball history behind Sabrina Ionescu's 26.
Although it wouldn't have counted in the WNBA's official stat book anyway, Clark finished the game with 12 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.
Katie Lou Samuelson shakes off the rust
By Friday night, Fever forward Katie Lou Samuelson last appeared in a WNBA game in 2022. She had signed with the Los Angeles Sparks, but the 26-year-old gave birth to a baby girl in August, so she did not play in the 2023 WNBA season. .
After signing with the Fever this offseason, Samuelsson was poised to make his debut against Dallas last Friday, but injured his ankle during pregame warmups and missed the game.
Tonight, she finally made her long-awaited debut.
They had to shake off the rust in the first half as they only scored one point on free throws. But the expected Fever starter stabilized during the third quarter, sinking two 3-pointers and a layup off his own steal. She had 11 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Young guard trio turns things around in the second quarter.
The Fever were down 15 points when second-year guard Grace Berger entered the game three minutes into the second quarter. Berger's lineup also included the rookie guard duo of Caitlin Clark and Celeste Taylor, as well as second-year player Aliyah Boston and third-year player Nalyssa Smith.
They were playing against a dream lineup of experienced veterans, including Aerial Powers and Tina Charles. Still, they were undaunted.
Berger had four assists in his first four minutes on the court and finished the first half with four points, five assists and three rebounds in seven minutes. Clark, a starter, had eight points and five assists by halftime. Taylor scored six points, including a putback at the buzzer, turning a 15-point deficit to one.
Collectively, the trio spurred the Fever on a 22-8 run in the final seven minutes of the first half to get Indiana back into contention. Clark is also almost certain to make the team, but Berger and Taylor had strong performances on the final day of training camp.
How many points did Caitlin Clark score?
Clark scored 12 points in his second WNBA preseason game. Although his score was lower than his 21 points in the preseason opener against the Dallas Wings, Clark had a more balanced game against the Dream with eight rebounds and six assists.