Fever’s 9-0 – Indiana’s four-game winning streak ended at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as the Fever fell 108-101 to the Atlanta Dream on Thursday. Caitlin Clark’s foul trouble kept her on the bench during a pivotal stretch in the fourth quarter, when Indiana answered with a 9-0 ru
The Indiana Fever knew they were walking into a test when Caitlin Clark sat down due to foul trouble. But the game changed again in the fourth quarter—because the Fever didn’t fold.
At Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday, Indiana’s four-game winning streak ended with a 108-101 loss to the Atlanta Dream. Indiana trailed by as much as 12 points in the second half, then flipped the momentum late. With five minutes left, the Fever struck with a 9-0 blast to tie the game 93-93.
Atlanta didn’t waver after that moment. The Dream stayed composed, and Rhyne Howard delivered clutch buckets that helped keep Indiana from taking the lead—turning Indiana’s late surge into a near-miss instead of a comeback win.
The standings reflected the shift immediately: the Fever dropped to 9-6, while Atlanta improved to 10-4.
For Indiana, the most notable turning point came when Clark was forced to the bench. When coach Stephanie White spoke about what worked during that stretch, she pointed directly at the defensive effort and the quality of looks the Fever created on the other end.
“I thought that group really dug in on the defensive end of the floor. Got stops, we rebounded it well, and we moved it on offense. We made it a little bit more difficult (for the Dream) because the ball got side to side. We got some higher-quality looks and knocked them down,” White said in a video posted by Sportskeeda’s Arhaan Raje.
Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston carried much of Indiana’s scoring during the fourth quarter. Together, they accounted for 19 of the Fever’s 23 points in the final period, with Mitchell scoring 13 of her 26 points in that same stretch.
Clark finished with 26 points, but her fourth-quarter production stalled. She failed to score in the final quarter as she lost momentum during the extended stretch of sitting out. She also totaled seven assists and five turnovers.
The loss also spoiled something else for Indiana and Clark personally: it marked the setback ahead of the debut of Clark’s signature shoe, which she had been teasing for several weeks.
Still, the Fever left the game with a clear takeaway from White’s message—an answer exists when Clark is off the floor. Now they have another chance to turn that belief into results.
Indiana will try to exact revenge against the Dream on Saturday.
Indiana Fever Atlanta Dream Caitlin Clark Stephanie White Kelsey Mitchell Aliyah Boston Rhyne Howard WNBA Gainbridge Fieldhouse foul trouble 9-0 run 108-101
So Clark fouled out and that’s why they lost… makes sense I guess.
108-101 is super close, but foul trouble seems like the whole story. Also why are they always losing when she’s got “a signature shoe” coming out like that matters lol.
I don’t even get the sentence about her “sitting down” in the fourth. If she had 26 points total then she didn’t get fouled out right? Feels like they’re blaming refs or something. Either way Atlanta hitting clutch buckets yeah okay.
The 9-0 run to tie at 93-93 was exciting and then it just… stopped? Like where did that defense go. Stephanie White said the other group got stops and moved the ball around but then they still couldn’t get the lead. I swear it’s always one player’s foul trouble or one random stretch and the whole game flips. Also Mitchell had 13 in that quarter so maybe they should just keep feeding her instead of relying on Clark when she’s on the bench.