Fever fall to Liberty, 98-77; Clark misses game with groin injury

NEW YORK (AP) — Breanna Stewart had 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to help the New York Liberty to a 98-77 win Wednesday night over the Indiana Fever, who played without star guard Caitlin Clark.

Clark missed the game after injuring her right groin on Tuesday night in the final minute of the game against Connecticut in Boston. Clark has a busy weekend ahead as Indiana is hosting the WNBA All-Star Game and she’s slated to compete in the 3-point contest and

is captain of one of the two teams.

Sabrina Ionescu, who will also be in the 3-point contest, added 15 points and nine assists for the Liberty (15-6).

Stewart got the Liberty off to a strong start as they led 32-24 after one quarter and were up 15 at the half. The Liberty’s All-Star forward had 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists by the break.

New York put the game away in the third quarter behind Stewart, whose three-point play with 3:57 left made it 71-48 much to the delight of the crowd of 17,371. The Fever could only get within 15 the rest of the way.

Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana (12-11) with 16 points. The Fever fell to 4-6 when Clark has missed a regular season game this season.

New York was still missing star center Jonquel Jones. She said she plans to be back for the Liberty’s first game after the All-Star break on Tuesday which is also against Indiana. She’s been sidelined with a sprained ankle for about a month.