EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsINDIANAPOLIS -- Caitlin Clark had 24 points and nine assists and Kelsey Mitchell scored 22 points as the Indiana Fever overcame a 13-point first-quarter deficit to beat the Phoenix Mercury 86-77 on Monday night.The Fever held off a late charge in a chippy fourth that saw six technical fouls handed out between the teams. Myisha Hines-Allen was ejected after picking up her second technical foul, and Clark got her fifth of the season. Players receive a one-game automatic suspension after their eighth.Clark and Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner exchanged words after Clark fouled Bonner early in the fourth quarter. Clark clapped her hands after the whistle and was called for the technical, which she called "ridiculous.""We should all just go on the calendar now and pick a game that I'm gonna be suspended for if I'm gonna get technicals for clapping," she said."She's got to be aware," coach Stephanie White said when asked about Clark's fouls. "Certainly. I think there are some we can do without."There are natural things that happen, that the energy of the game creates when you do get those, but there are some that we can be a little more in control of. So yes, we'll continue to remind her, and I think she has to have an awareness."Indiana scored just six points in the first quarter, tied for its fewest in any quarter since 2018 and its fewest in the first since 2016. The Fever responded with a 35-point second quarter -- their second-highest total in a quarter this season -- to tie the game at 41 at the break. Clark scored 15 in the second quarter.The Fever outscored Phoenix 30-11 in the third. Clark and Mitchell made 16 of Indiana's 27 field goals, including six 3-pointers.Monique Billings finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the year for Indiana (10-7), which snapped a two-game skid. Aliyah Boston was held to eight points on 2-of-9 shooting. Clark has the most consecutive 20-point, five-assist games in WNBA history with six.Kahleah Copper scored 20 points for Phoenix (5-12), and Alyssa Thomas had 19 points, five rebounds and nine assists.Thomas became the fastest player in WNBA history to record 500 assists with a franchise, surpassing Clark in four fewer games. She also moved to 13th on the WNBA's career steals list.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
