Mystics look to stay hot against Fever rookie Clark

The Washington Mystics have won two in a row after losing the first 12 games of the WNBA season. The team looks to keep their hot streak alive during a game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Wednesday.

The worst start in franchise history is in the rearview mirror for the Mystics’ players. They say their routines haven’t changed — the wins have just started flowing.

“I don’t think we’ve done anything differently than what we did the day we got here,” guard Ariel Atkins said after Friday’s win against the Chicago Sky. “We’ve been doing what we need to do as far as the foundation of who we are, and it’s showing. We’ve got two wins now.”

When the Mystics visit the Fever on Wednesday, they’ll be looking to avenge one of the toughest losses of the young season, an 85-83 heartbreaker at Capital One Arena on June 7. 

The game, which sold out the 20,000-seat home of the Washington Wizards, came down to the wire. Clark caught fire, draining a rookie-record seven three-pointers, but the Mystics only trailed by two as the clock ticked down in the fourth quarter.

Atkins had a shot at a potential game-winning buzzer-beater, but she couldn’t beat the clock.

“We have to do a better job obviously on Caitlin Clark. We let her get the threes,” Thibault said ahead of Wednesday’s game. “Sometimes, it’s just you’ve seen it once and being able to realize some individual tendencies a little bit better.”

But Indiana isn’t a one-woman squad, Thibault noted.

“There’s other people that hurt us in that game too,” the 36-year-old coach said. 

“They’re a good offensive team, I think it’s taking away what they like to do,” guard Karlie Samuelson told reporters on Tuesday. “Obviously, Caitlin [Clark] had a big game against us last time, but other people on their team are playing really well.”

Samuelson noted that the Mystics’ defense will closely monitor Fever forward Aliyah Boston. The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year is averaging 20 points per game over her last three starts after a slow opening to the season.

“Aliyah Boston is playing a lot better since the last time we played them,” forward Myisha Hines-Allen said. “They’re running a lot more plays through her.

Washington has had ample time to gameplan for the Fever — the squad benefitted from a four-day break after playing six games in 11 days. 

“The run we’ve been on … we’ve just shown some really good resilience,” Thibault said on Friday. 

The second-year coach attributed the squad’s toughness to Atkins. The two-time All-Star leads the team in scoring and has provided a vital leadership presence in the locker room.

“She kind of worked through the rough patches she had a couple weeks ago. …” Thibault said.  “She’s put our team on her back kind of emotionally, mentally as much as anything.”
The Mystics aren’t the only ones who have found a rhythm after an inauspicious start.

The Fever opened the season 1-8, leading to a flood of speculation about whether Clark could match her record-breaking collegiate production at the next level.

Clark says she knew adjusting to the WNBA would be difficult. She just needed some time. 

“One of the biggest things to learn as I go through my rookie season is just finding some consistency,” Clark said, according to the Indianapolis Star. “And obviously, it’s been hard. It’s been a tough stretch at the beginning … but I feel like I have gotten more comfortable over the course of these games.”

Powered by their rookie guard, the Fever have won four of their last six games. Clark is leading the team with 16 points and six assists per game.

“Caitlin Clark is a phenomenal player,” Fever coach Christie Sides told the Star. “She’s getting more and more comfortable with her new teammates. She spent four years with her Iowa teammates, and they did great things … I think she’s having those moments with her new teammates.”