Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever took on the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday. The game was televised on ESPN and commentator Mark Jones made a hilarious analogy during the game. Clark was being defended by Kahleah Copper when the longtime ESPN sportscaster made his comments.
The Fever rookie was hounded by the Mercury defense, with Copper tasked with making her life miserable. Clark struggled, going just 4-for-14 from the field, including 2-for-10 from beyond the arc. Copper was defending the 22-year-old star so close that Jones said this:
"She was in Clark's face like acne."
That's one way to keep Caitlin Clark from scoring the basketball. However, Clark still affected the game in various ways and almost finished with her first career triple-double. She had 15 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists in the Indiana Fever's 88-82 win over the Phoenix Mercury at the Footprint Center.
The victory snapped the Fever's two-game losing streak and improved their overall record to 8-12, which is good for the No. 8 spot in the league. They are ahead of the Chicago Sky and just behind the Atlanta Dream.
It was an overall team win for Indiana with Aliyah Boston finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Kelsey Mitchell had 16 points and three rebounds. NaLyssa Smith added 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Temi Fagbenle scored 10 points off the bench.
On the other hand, Kahleah Copper struggled with just seven points and fouled out of the game. Diana Taurasi had 19 points, three rebounds and three assists while Brittney Griner had a game-high 24 points.
The Mercury controlled the game in the first and third quarters, but the Fever kept coming back. Phoenix regained some momentum in the fourth period before Indiana went on a 10-2 run to finish the game.
Caitlin Clark's postgame comments about Diana Taurasi
Caitlin Clark might have struggled with her shot and taking care of the basketball on Sunday night, but she performed when the lights were bright. Clark had a near triple-double against one of her idols, Diana Taurasi. She also got the win in their first-ever matchup and this is what she said after the game via ESPN:
"I'm just happy we won. It was cool to play against her and obviously a really great game. And like you said, this crowd was absolutely incredible."
Caitlin Clark also praised her teammates for stepping up when their number got called. Clark even pointed out the team's resiliency after being down big in the first and third quarters. She gave a special shout-out to Kelsey Mitchell, who balled out in the game and made clutch shots.