Recapping Fever win over Las Vegas Aces, Caitlin Clark injury update
IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson and Brian Haenchen break down Indiana’s 80-70 win over the Aces on Thursday night.
INDIANAPOLIS – Stephanie White and the Indiana Fever coaching staff weren’t phased by Kelsey Mitchell‘s poor shooting start Thursday night.
“The biggest thing with Kelsey is just telling her, ‘Let it fly.’ It’s going to go,” White said.
Mitchell was 3-for-16 after missing her first four shots of the third quarter Thursday night vs. the Las Vegas Aces.
With 2:47 left in the frame, White ran a sideline out-of-bounds play for the veteran guard. Natasha Howard and Aliyah Boston set a double-screen for No. 0 at the top of the arc. Mitchell ran around the screens and, with Jackie Young in pursuit, caught Aari McDonald’s inbound and launched a wide-open 3 from the left wing.
The shot clanged through, giving the Fever a 57-56 advantage they would not relinquish.
Stay the course. Trust the work. And keep taking smart shots. They’ll start falling eventually.
Let it fly.
Mitchell had 12 points on 4-of-19 shooting entering the fourth quarter.Â
She finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-24 shooting, lifting the Fever to an 80-70 win and pushing her career point total to 4,413. She is the fourth-fastest guard in WNBA history to reach the 4,400-point plateau, accomplishing the feat in 258 games.
“Kelsey made some big ones for us when we needed them,” White smiled.
Mitchell — who added a nifty reverse layup about a minute later — helped the Fever find their footing with that clutch triple in the third.Â
She discovered her rhythm in the fourth, doing her damage with a couple layups, a 20-foot pull-up and a contested 3 from the right wing. She went 4-for-5 for nine points.
The Fever coaches helped Mitchell “recalibrate” when she was attacking the rim, making sure she stayed on balance.Â
“There are times when she takes a lot of contact and she gets off-balance, and goes off of one leg instead of two,” White said of Mitchell. “So we really reiterate to her, particularly in those moments: go off of two feet, stay balanced and go strong to the rim. That’s when she makes her best reads and her best decisions. And then keep shooting it from the outside.”Â
Thursday’s outing certainly wasn’t Mitchell’s most efficient outing of the season, but it was an impressive — and by no means unexpected — display of stick-to-it-iveness.
 Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter.
