Three straight wins for Indiana — and for once, the closing minutes have an actual name attached. You're gonna want to hear whose. If you're just joining us: Indiana's contender-consistency question was already hanging over the Connecticut trip. They beat Chicago 114-106 in overtime — Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark making WNBA history — but they also coughed up a 19-point lead. The issue was never whether this roster can score. It's whether Stephanie White's group can keep control of a game like a serious contender. This is Indiana Fever Daily, and today we finally get to grade my homework — the closing problem I've been ranting about all week. Connecticut win, Clark with 25, and an unexpected name slammed the door. Let's get into it. Fever contender consistency test isn't over. Follow us wherever you're listening, and the next chapter comes to you. Here's Scott Agness at Fieldhouse Files:
The Indiana Fever have won three straight games for the second time this season, defeating the Connecticut Sun 85-75 on Saturday. It was closer than the score suggests, just a two-point game with two minutes left. But then Sophie Cunningham scored the team's final 11 points -- in her first game back at the site where she suffered a torn MCL 10 months ago.
All week, the question was who Indiana trusts in the last four minutes. Saturday in Connecticut, Sophie Cunningham answered it by scoring the team's final 11 points in an 85-75 win. Eleven straight from Cunningham — and at the exact arena where she tore her MCL ten months ago. You can't script that one. And that's the part that matters, Joey. It was a two-point game with two minutes left. The lead-protection problem didn't magically go away — Cunningham filled the gap. Clark had 25, five Fever players were in double figures, but the close belonged to Cunningham. That's what I'm chewing on. Was it a scheme call, a hot-hand read, or did Connecticut just have no plan for her? Because nineteen turnovers turning into 25 Sun points — that game's fatal without her run. Three straight wins for the second time this season. They're 8-5, 4-1 in the Cup. That's real. But the same issue keeps popping up — four straight games with a blown double-digit lead, even in the wins. A nine-point halftime cushion after holding them to nine in the second quarter, and it's still a two-possession game late. That's what keeps bothering me — Cunningham bailed it out, and I don't trust that it repeats every night. From the source:
Caitlin Clark led the team with 19 points (4 3PM) and hit the game-winning three with 1.2 seconds remaining, while collecting 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 steal. Aliyah Boston also added a double-double (14 points & 10 rebounds), along with 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks as the Fever outlasted the Mystics 78-76 in Washington on Monday night.
Okay, so this is the one before Connecticut — Clark, 1.2 on the clock, catch-and-shoot three off the Sophie inbounds, 78-76 in Washington. Are we surprised Caitlin Clark is Caitlin Clark? No. But you can't leave her that open with the season on the line. And look at the design — Cunningham inbounding, Clark catching and firing. The closing-five questions get a lot less murky when the last possession has real roles attached. Down one, one play, executed. Right, and Boston's quietly doing the dirty work — fourteen and ten, two blocks, two steals. Clark gets the highlight, but Boston's the one running hard and finishing those outlet layups all night. Nineteen and four threes from Clark isn't a 30-point eruption either. She didn't have to carry it for forty hard minutes — the supporting cast kept it within one possession, and then she put it away. What I keep coming back to — two-point game, decided on the final shot, again. The margin is never comfortable. But after the week we've had, I'll take the version where the buzzer-beater goes in for us. Got thoughts on today’s Fever news, a story idea, or a correction we should know about? Send us a note at indianafeverdailyfancast at lantern podcasts dot com. We really do read what you send.
What we’re watching next: Indiana opens a five-of-six home stretch Tuesday against the Toronto Tempo.
You’ll find links to every story we mentioned in the show notes, so if one caught your ear, you can dig in there. That’s Indiana Fever Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.