Jonquel Jones had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Sabrina Ionescu added 23 points, including the winning free throws with 2.9 seconds left, to lead the New York Liberty over the Indiana Fever 90-88 on Saturday.
Caitlin Clark, who ended a stretch of 12 missed three-pointers with a four-point play followed by a 33ft buzzer-beater to end the third quarter, had the ball stripped away by Natasha Cloud on the final play of the game. Clark finished with 18 points, 10 assists and 10 turnovers, shooting 2 for 11 on three pointers. Breanna Stewart and Cloud had 16 points each for the Liberty (3-0).
However, the Fever were unhappy with three calls in the final 10 seconds that could have swung the game. Clark believed she was fouled by Cloud on the final play of the game, and Indiana believed Cloud had also fouled DeWanna Bonner on a blocked shot. They also disputed the call on Lexie Hull that led to Ionescu’s free throws but could not challenge as they had no timeouts left.
“I think it’s pretty egregious what’s been happening to us the last four games, you know, a minus-31 free throw discrepancy,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “And I might be able to understand it if we were just chucking threes. But we’re not. We’re attacking the rim and the disrespect right now for our team has been pretty unbelievable.”
Clark protested with the officials after the final play of the game but later said she was unsure if she had been fouled. “I’d have to go back and watch … I don’t know,” she said.
The Fever’s two losses this season have been by a total margin of three points, and Clark said her team need to address the performance in close games. “That’s probably what’s frustrating about it. … We are two possessions from being 4-0,” Clark said. “But there were so many little areas of this game we could have improved. It definitely stings, but this is what’s going to make us better at the end of the year.”
Aliyah Boston led Indiana (2-2) with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Hull, starting in place of Bonner, and Kelsey Mitchell added 15 points each. Clark’s turnovers were scattered between precise feeds to the rim to her teammates, including Boston, who bounced back from a four-point performance in a win over the Atlanta Dream on Thursday.
The Fever had an 80-68 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the game. It was an impressive midgame run for the new-look Fever against the reigning WNBA champs, having stormed back from down 14 early in the second quarter. But the Liberty’s experience showed up when it mattered. Jones, Stewart and Ionescu brought them quickly back into the game. They went on a 14-2 run for an 84-82 lead after Jones drained consecutive three-pointers.
“I’m proud of how we hung in there,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “We’ve been though some mud before, and it was a muddy game. But we know how to get out of it if we just commit to being consistently great with how we should play. We got it back. We found a way to win. We had good defense near the end.”
The Liberty head home to play a pair of games against expansion team Golden State on Tuesday and Thursday. Indiana are at Washington on Wednesday.