When the Indiana Fever visit the winless Connecticut Sun on Friday in Indianapolis, they will be hoping for a better outcome as they cope with the loss of starlet Caitlin Clark.
The Fever (2-3) lost to the Washington Mystics 83-77 on Wednesday as they battled to find their footing with the defending WNBA Rookie of the Year out with a strained left quad. Sophie Cunningham of Indiana called the defeat a “gut punch,” while Kelsey Mitchell, another guard, carried on the fight analogy.
Mitchell went on to say, “We weren’t sharp enough to be a contender for anything (versus Washington),” said ESPN. “I think getting punched in the mouth early is humbling, because it shows where we need to be.”
acquisition during the off-season For the Fever, DeWanna Bonner scored a team-high 21 points. After playing for Connecticut for the previous five seasons, the six-time All-Star agreed to a one-year deal with Indiana.
Starting in place of Clark, who missed her first regular-season game in her professional or collegiate career, Sydney Colson scored four points in 31 minutes. After suffering the injury during Indiana’s 90-88 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday, Clark is anticipated to be sidelined for at least two weeks.
The Sun will not sympathize with the Fever. After losing to former UConn standout Paige Bueckers and the winless Dallas Wings 109-87 on Tuesday, Connecticut dropped to 0-5 for the first time since the 2020 season.
According to the Hartford Courant, Sun coach Rachid Meziane stated, “We will play like that until we understand what we’re capable of doing and not capable of doing.” We must play as a team, and playing as a team means both offensively and defensively, as I have stated numerous times. Ultimately, we didn’t give the court our best effort. We didn’t put in the work to merely be able to compete.”