Fever fall to Mystics in first regular season game without Caitlin Clark

INDIANAPOLIS — In their first regular season game without point guard Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever fell to the Washington Mystics, 83-77.

Prior to Wednesday, Clark had not missed a regular season game at any point during her professional career. She played in all 40 of Indiana’s regular season game in 2024.

Clark, however, sat out Indiana’s first preseason game of the 2025 season with a leg injury. She is currently sidelined with a quad injury. The Fever previously indicated Clark will sit out at least two weeks with the quad injury.

The Fever’s matchup with the Mystics was held at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. The venue has 14,000 seats, nearly 10,000 more than 4,200-seat CareFirst Arena, which is where the Mystics play most of their home games.

Since Clark was drafted, numerous teams have moved their homes games against the Fever to larger venues. On June 7, the Fever are supposed to play the Chicago Sky at the 21,000-seat United Center.

Even without Clark on Wednesday, the Fever lost to the Mystics by just two possessions. Forward DeWanna Bonner scored 21 points off the bench.

In addition to Bonner, forward Natasha Howard, center Aliyah Boston and guard Kelsey Mitchell all scored in double figures, racking up 11, 10 and 14 points, respectively.

Sydney Colson was inserted into the Fever’s starting lineup in place of Clark. She finished Wednesday’s contest with four points, three rebounds and three assists.

The Mystics also had four players score in double figures — Kiki Iriafen (16), Brittney Sykes (21), Sonia Citron (13) and Shakira Austin (13).

Indiana fell to 2-3 on the season with its loss to Washington. The Fever will host the 0-5 Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday at 7:30 p.m.