The Indiana Fever didn’t have anything to play for on the final night of the WNBA regular season. Indiana had already clinched the No. 6 seed in the playoffs and could afford to treat their matchup with the Washington Mystics as more of a warm-up.
For the Mystics, however, a win was crucial to keep their playoff chances alive. Washington not only had to win, but also needed the Chicago Sky to defeat the Connecticut Sun and the Atlanta Dream to lose to the New York Liberty.
A WNBA record crowd of 20,711 watched the Mystics defeat the Fever, 92–91, at Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena as the home team pursued the WNBA’s last playoff spot and Clark played her final regular season game.
Unfortunately, one out of three was not enough. The Mystics did what they could by winning their game, but the Sky lost to the Sun and the Dream beat the Liberty.
Washington took an 82–66 into the third quarter, but the Fever didn’t go into the playoffs quietly. Indiana rallied in the fourth, outscoring the Mystics 25–10 to give themselves the opportunity to win the game. Kristy Wallace made a layup with 1:12 remaining to put the Fever within one, but Katie Lou Samuelson and Grace Berger each missed long jump shots in the closing seconds that would have won the game.
In her rookie regular season finale, Caitlin Clark scored eight points (adding to her WNBA rookie record total) with five rebounds and eight assists (adding to her single-season record). Wallace led the Fever with 17 points off the bench, shooting 3-for-4 from 3. NaLyssa Smith added 16 points with five rebounds. Samuelson and Aliyah Boston each scored 10.
Indiana finishes the season at 20–20, 8–12 on the road. The Mystics compiled a 14–26 record, 5–15 at home. Washington finished one game behind the Dream (14–25) for the No. 8 and final seed for the playoffs.
Sika Koné led all scorers with 20 points for the Mystics, adding seven rebounds. Ariel Atkins (shooting 5-for-7 from 3) and Emily Engstler both tallied 17 points, while Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Brittney Sykes each followed with 12.
The Fever will face the No. 3 seeded Sun (28–12) in the first round of the WNBA playoffs, beginning on Sunday. Tip-off for Game 1 of the best-of-3 series is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
