Caitlin Clark struggled in the Indiana Fever's 83-75 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday, shooting 4-of-14 from the field for just 10 points. She did record seven rebounds, nine assists and one block, but she just couldn't find her rhythm offensively.
It didn't help Clark that she got into foul trouble in the second half, just as the Liberty were staging a comeback after trailing by 12 points. Clark committed four fouls in the final two quarters. New York took 28 free throws in that span and made 26 of them.
Speaking to reporters postgame, Clark admitted that she had a couple of "dumb" fouls during the game.
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Fever head coach Stephanie White, however, refused to put the blame on Clark alone despite her shortcomings. She acknowledged that they fell short in assisting Clark to ease the pressure on her, especially on the defensive end.
"We didn't help her out, we didn't plug the gaps," White said, per Robin Lundberg of Indiana Fever on SI. "Some of those are rotation based, but some of them our team defensive positioning has to be better. And that can take some pressure off C if we're in the right spots."
Clark's defense has been a major issue for the Fever, with teams constantly attacking her in isolation to bait her into either allowing an easy bucket or getting into foul trouble. This time, as Clark tried to stay in front of her mark, she naturally saw her foul count increase.
It will be interesting to see how the Fever address this issue moving forward. As for Clark, WNBA legend Sue Bird offered her some advice to improve her defense, telling her to learn "every single tendency of every single player" that she's going to guard.
Indiana dropped to 5-5 on the season with the loss, putting them at No. 8 in the league standings.
