INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark sat at the dais Thursday night, staring at the stat sheet and reliving the eight turnovers and her two missed free throws with seven seconds left in regulation.
Then she took the blame for the Indiana Fever's stinging 86-84 overtime loss to defending champion Las Vegas.
“Obviously, it just can't happen,” the three-time All-Star said just hours after she was one of 12 players named to the FIBA Women's World Cup team.
“Those are free throws I usually make and certainly frustrating. Obviously, one of them gives us a two-possession lead and kind of caused my pain there, for sure, so that's on me.”
It wasn't a great night for Clark by any measure. While she scored 20 points, had eight assists and made two go-ahead 3-pointers in the final 4 1/2 minutes of regulation, it was the miscues she rued after first watching a 20-point first-half lead slip away and then failing to protect a three-point lead in the final seconds of the fourth quarter and a two-point lead at the end of overtime.
Jackie Young took advantage of the first opening by scoring a franchise-record 15 consecutive points to finish the second quarter and start the third. Chelsea Gray then made the Fever pay for their late miscues — making a buzzer-beating 3 to tie it at 75 following the missed free throws and then making another buzzer beater to win it following Clark's final turnover, forced by A'ja Wilson.
Clark went 7 of 20 from the field, 2 of 10 on 3s and had more fouls (four) than rebounds (three). Still, she didn't make any excuses.
“I didn't know we scored nine points in the third quarter, but you know we still battled, still fought, we put ourselves in position to win the game,” Clark said. “And then, honestly, it was me that made the costly errors for us. So that's on me to helps us win. That's my job. That's what I get paid to do.”
As usual, though, it wasn't just Clark.
Kelsey Mitchell, July's WNBA Player of the Month, missed one of two free throws with 9.2 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. And then, instead of fouling to prevent the tying 3-point attempt, or corralling the loose ball, Gray got her chance to tie the score.
“Aliyah Boston read it perfectly, her timing was perfect,” coach Stephanie White said, noting they gave up 18 points on turnovers, too.. “It's a loose ball and it bounced their way. We've got to come up with that play.”
White also acknowledged making her own mistake — not calling timeout at the end of overtime when they were struggling to get a shot, which led to Clark's turnover.
And, though, that seemed of little solace to Clark, White saw it another way.
“Players already hate that they miss free throws, right? They hate that they miss plays,” White said. “You've just got to keep them positive in those moments."
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
