LOS ANGELES – The Indiana Fever won, 78-73, against the Los Angeles Sparks (1-3) at Crypto.com Arena on Friday night. Indiana erased an 11-point halftime deficit in front of its sixth consecutive sellout crowd to start the 2024 regular season.
After trailing, 45-34, at the half, Indiana held Los Angeles to only 11 points in the third quarter – the lowest scoring quarter by a Fever opponent this season. Indiana (1-5) outscored the Sparks in paint points (38-36), fast break points (14-4) and held Los Angeles to shooting only 5-of-24 from beyond the arc on Friday night.
Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana in scoring with 15 of her 18 points in the second half to go along with two rebounds and two assists. Fever centers Aliyah Boston and Temi Fagbenle each posted 17 points and six rebounds. Boston added two assists and two steals, while Fagbenle recorded three assists to go along with her career-high scoring night. Rookie guard Caitlin Clark nearly tallied a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists as well as four steals. Clark’s two 3-pointers in the final 2:27 of regulation sealed the victory.
In the loss, Sparks forward Dearica Hamby recorded a double-double with a team-high 18 points, 12 rebounds, but was held to only two points in the second half. Rookie forward Cameron Brink trailed behind with 15 points and added nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. Rookie forward Rickea Jackson came off the bench and scored 16 points to go along with two rebounds.
UP NEXT
Indiana will finish the west coast trip on Saturday night at the Las Vegas Aces at 9 p.m. ET. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on WTHR Channel 13 and NBA TV.