Liberty Fall to Fever Amidst Caitlin Clark History

Caitlin Clark's historic triple-double for the Indiana Fever ended the New York Liberty's five-game winning streak.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

The New York Liberty became the latest to endure the Caitlin Clark effect on Saturday afternoon.

Clark's triple-double, the first of its kind in WNBA history, paced the Indiana Fever to a thrilling come-from-behind victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon, as she became the first rookie to earn double-figures in three categories en route to an 83-78 victory over New York. Thus ends the Liberty's five-game winning streak, the longest-active tally in the WNBA entering the weekend.

Indiana (9-13) bested New York for the first time in four meetings thanks in part to Clark's showcase, which was completed before a 21-7 run over the final 5:45 sealed the deal. Clark's historic box score featured 19 points, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds when all was said and done, a stark contrast from her prior effort against the Liberty, which saw her shoot 1-of-10 in a 38-point loss at Barclays Center on June 2.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 22 points for New York (17-4) while Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was right behind her with 20 and four assists and rebounds each.

The Fever set the tone for a crowd-pleasing upset early on, scoring the first eight points of the game and leaping out to a lead that summitted at 12. Often a godsend for the league-leading Liberty, New York has been on the wrong end of the first period score in three straight games.

"This was their Super Bowl game," Ionescu noted. "We've beaten them three times this year already. We knew they were going to come into this game really hungry and it's tough to beat a team four times. It's tough in our league, especially with the way every team has just grown. Especially with this young team, we've been able to see how much they've grown throughout the first half of the season. "

"I don't think it was us not necessarily playing our style of basketball. It was just understanding that we have to come in with a sense of urgency knowing it's not going to be a easy as it was in the first couple of games we went up against them because they've grown."

New York recovered well enough in the second to narrow the gap to one and metropolitan sanity was seemingly set to prevail in the third. Ionscu and Laney-Hamilton scored nine each and Clark was held in check to the tune of 1-of-6 in the middle periods after scoring 11 in the first on 4-of-5.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

"I didn't think we came out with the necessary urgency to compete," Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello noted. "I've watched a lot of film on (Indiana) and it's a team that has gotten better and better with every game they've played. They're 6-4 in their last 10."

"We turned it around quickly. I thought our second quarter was great, our third quarter was great. But we wasted a lot of shots, we had some turnovers ... they executed better than us down the stretch. Anyone can beat anyone in this league. That says a lot. We have to make sure we bring the same focus for every opponent."

Clark securing history, however, proved to be the momentum-shifter Indiana needed for the final stanzas. The Fever put up a run of 11 unanswered after a Laney-Hamilton triple boosted the lead to seven just before the four-minute mark.

Between a successful and-one and two assists, Clark played a role in seven of those points while Kelsey Mitchell found Aliyah Boston for what became the go-ahead double. Mitchell had tied the game on a three from the corner before forcing a steal from Breanna Stewart to set up Boston's heroics.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

Lexie Hull capped off the run with a driving deuce of her own before an Ionescu triple stopped the bleeding. New York, however, was unable to cut into the lead further, dooming them to their first regular season loss since June 18. Ionescu and Laney-Hamilton united to shoot 8-of-23 from three-point range but the rest of the team was 2-of-19.

Clark's fellow All-Star Boston finished with 18 points while NaLyssa Smith had a double-double with a dozen points and 11 boards. Fellow WNBA All-Star Jonquel Jones pulled in 12 rebounds but was held to six points, dooming New York to a 2-4 mark (including the Commissioner's Cup Final) when she's held to a single digit.

The Liberty will be getting up early for their next matchup, which situates them against the second-place Connecticut Sun (11 a.m. ET, WWOR).

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