Target Center was full Sunday. More than 18,000 fans came to the Lynx-Indiana Fever game, many of them to watch Caitlin Clark’s first WNBA game at Target Center.
But it wasn’t Clark who pushed and pulled the Fever to a come-from-behind 81-74 victory. It was last year’s WNBA rookie of the year, Aliyah Boston, and veteran Kelsey Mitchell.
Boston scored 17 points and added 16 rebounds. Her consecutive baskets coming out of a timeout with 3:09 left broke a tie and put the Fever (11-14) up for good..
That’s not to say Clark wasn’t a factor. She scored 10 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter.
But it was Boston who dominated in the middle and scored when it mattered.
The score was tied at 71-71 when Cecilia Zandalasini hit a three-pointer for the Lynx with 4:22 left. The score was still tied into a timeout with 3:09 left.
Out of that timeout, Clark fed Boston for a layup. After Zandalasini missed a three-point try, Boston scored again with 2:03 left.
Mitchell scored 21 points, and Clark and Boston had 17. Alanna Smith had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Lynx (16-9), who lost their second game in a row and for the fourth time in six games. Bridget Carleton had 17 points, Kayla McBride 11, and Courtney Williams and Zandalasini 10 each.
The Lynx were outscored 28-14 in the fourth quarter.
Despite making just seven of 19 shots, just one of six threes and turning the ball over four times, the Lynx trailed by just 20-19 after the first quarter.
Smith was the main reason. She scored 13 of the Lynx’s points, made four of her six field-goal tries and all four of her free throws. The rest of the Lynx? They went a combined 3-for-13, 0-for-5 on threes, 0-for-1 on free throws.
Boston, meanwhile, scored nine of the Fever’s 20 first-quarter points and added seven rebounds.
The Lynx went 4-for-6 overall and made both their three-point attempts while starting the second quarter 10-2 to go up seven points on Carleton’s three with 7:38 left in the half.
The rest of the half, the Lynx made just four of 17 shots and one of nine threes while being outscored 16-9, forging a 38-38 halftime tie.
The Fever led by two points late in the third quarter. But Williams’ 18-footer with 3:55 left was the start of a 12-3 end to the quarter that put the Lynx up 60-53 entering the fourth.
That run included a free throw by McBride that came after a technical called on Clark — after review — for hitting Zandalasini in the face. Williams had four points and Carleton made a three-pointer in the run.
But the Fever struck back, opening the fourth on a 14-5 run to make it a one-possession game again.