The Indiana Fever vs Seattle Storm game on Wednesday night set a record attendance of 18,343, largely due to the presence of Caitlin Clark and Nika Mühl's debut. This was a significant turnout considering both teams are among the weakest in the league.
The Storm narrowly secured an 85-83 victory in a thrilling finish. Clark's two free throws cut the Seattle lead to one, but the Storm then committed a turnover on the inbounds play.
With two seconds left and a chance to win, Clark lost the ball, and Nneka Ogwumike sealed the game for the Storm after splitting her free throws.
The Fever initially faced an 11-point deficit but managed to turn the game around after a slow start that left them trailing by nine points at the end of the first quarter (25-16).
They outscored the Storm 24-19 in the second quarter to reduce the lead to four.
In the third quarter, the Fever achieved a four-point lead, their largest in the game, by outscoring the Storm 20-14. However, the Storm won the fourth quarter 27-23 to secure the victory.
Jewell Loyd was outstanding for the Storm, scoring a game-high 32 points on 11-for-24 shooting. She also contributed 11 rebounds and six assists in almost 39 minutes of play.
Ogwumike added 22 points and nine rebounds, while Ezi Magbegor contributed 14 points and nine rebounds. Sami Whitcomb had 10 points off the bench, and Nika Muhl, making her debut, played less than three minutes, going scoreless but grabbing two rebounds.
The still-winless Fever (0-5) were led by Caitlin Clark, who had 21 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. She also had three turnovers, went 2-of-8 from deep and 7-of-9 from the line while playing a team-high 33 minutes.
Kelsey Mitchell added 17 points and three rebounds, while NaLyssa Smith contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Fever.
Indiana’s bench, led by Temi Fagbenle who finished with eight points and six rebounds, outscored Seattle's bench 20-12. Seattle scored 11 points off 11 Indiana turnovers.
Both teams made six 3-pointers, with Seattle holding a slim 41-40 rebounding advantage and a 20-18 assist advantage. The Storm also recorded nine blocks to Indiana's eight, as well as six steals to Indiana's five.
Below are the stats and box scores for the Indiana Fever vs Seattle Storm game.