Natasha Howard scores 26 and Fever beat Dream 81-76 despite Caitlin Clark not making a 3

By Canadian Press on May 22, 2025.

ATLANTA (AP) — Natasha Howard scored 26 points and the Indiana Fever overcame Caitlin Clark’s cold long-distance shooting to beat the Atlanta Dream 81-76 before a sellout crowd on Thursday night to split a two-game series this week.

Atlanta won 91-90 at Indiana on Tuesday night.

Clark missed each of her five 3-pointers. That ended a streak of 140 games, including the WNBA regular season and playoffs and the bulk of her college career at Iowa, with at least one 3. The last time Clark was held without a 3 was Jan. 13, 2022, when she went 0 for 6 against Purdue during her sophomore season.

Clark and teammate Aliyah Boston each went to the bench with four fouls early in the third quarter. Clark finished with 11 points with six assists.

Kelsey Mitchell’s 3-pointer gave Indiana a 76-75 lead. Clark found Boston for a layup, only her second field goal, that extended the lead to 79-76.

Rhyne Howard led Atlanta with 24 points.

Clark said before the game she was enjoying the NBA Indiana Pacers’ playoff run. She said she took video of herself at she reacted to Tyrese Haliburton’s jumper that sent Game 1 of the Pacers’ Eastern Conference finals against the New York Knicks into overtime before Indiana took the 138-135 win on Wednesday night.

Sophie Cunningham scored nine points in her debut for Indiana after missing the first two games with a right ankle sprain. Coach Stephanie White said Cunningham was cleared to play with no restriction on her minutes.

The Dream announced guard Jordin Canada, out with a right knee injury, will resume basketball activities “in the coming weeks.”

The Dream moved the game to State Farm Arena, home to the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, and said shortly before tipoff that the 16,888-seat venue was sold out. The Dream’s normal home, Gateway Center Arena, holds only 3,500.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Charles Odum, The Associated Press