INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark had 27 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and Kelsey Mitchell added 20 points to her WNBA single-season scoring record as the Indiana Fever beat the Minnesota Lynx 96-77 on Tuesday night.
Indiana kept alive its faint hopes of earning the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and home-court advantage in the first round for at least one more day. It also prevented the Lynx from clinching the No. 1 seed, at least until after Golden State plays later Tuesday.
Mitchell extended her league record to 27 consecutive games with 20 or more points by making a 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes to play. Aliyah Boston added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Fever.
Chloe Bibby scored all of her 15 points on 3s for Minnesota. Liatu King finished with 12 points on a night the Lynx were without Olivia Miles. The record-breaking rookie was a late scratch because of an injured left calf, and her absence clearly had an impact. Miles broke Clark's single-season scoring record by a rookie on Sunday.
Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said she almost held Miles out Sunday against Connecticut and that they would take the injury day by day. Reeve also opted to bench her starters for most of the final 2 1/2 quarters because she didn't want to risk other injuries after Indiana's fast start.
Indiana took control with a 14-2 run to close the first quarter while opening up a 31-16 lead. The Fever extended the margin to 38-18 quickly in the second quarter and led by as much as 57-28 the first half.
But Minnesota spent the rest of the night charging back. The Lynx — playing their backups — finally cut the deficit to single digits late in the third and when Aari McDonald drove past a defender for an uncontested layup, the deficit was 71-64 at the end of three.
The Lynx were still within 74-66 with 8:15 left, but Monique Billings made two free throws before baskets from Clark, Mitchell and Boston made it 82-66 and the Fever pulled away late.
Up next
Lynx: Hosts Indiana on Thursday in their regular season finale.
Fever: Closes out their regular season road schedule Thursday at Minnesota.
