WASHINGTON (AP) — Caitlin Clark was alone with the ball, right in the front of the logo with the game on the line.As frustrating as this season has been at times for her and the Indiana Fever, this was Clark’s comfort zone — and the shot hit nothing but net.Clark’s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining gave Indiana a 78-76 victory over the Washington Mystics on Monday night — and gave the 24-year-old star a signature moment following a rocky stretch at the start of her third season.“I think sometimes we take great players, and certainly generational talent, for granted,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said. “What she did was incredible for us. She’s going to have many more moments like that. I know she is. And we needed this one tonight.”Indiana was just 5-5 entering the game. Clark was filling up the stat sheet but had not been shooting the ball well. As always, she’s been under a microscope, having to answer for a feisty sideline exchange with White and receiving criticism by national columnists for her occasional histrionics on the court.
The online conversation around her feels almost tribal at times, but in front of a packed crowd at Washington’s CareFirst Arena, she contributed to another electric atmosphere. White was asked if this game-winning 3 might quiet the “noise” around Clark, but that may be impossible.
