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Caitlin Clark continued to struggle in her return from a back injury Wednesday and was fortunate to avoid a technical foul for a first-half confrontation with an official.
Clark finished with 13 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 turnovers in a poor shooting night as the Golden State Valkyries secured an 88-75 win over her Indiana Fever for their eighth straight win.
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Clark shot 4 of 14 from the field and 1 of 8 from 3 in the loss.
Wednesday’s was Clark’s third game back from a two-game absence with a back injury that’s lingered for weeks, and the Fever have been easing her back into action since. She previously sat on the second night of a back-to-back on Thursday.
Clark played 25 minutes Wednesday, roughly eight fewer than her career average of 33.1 per game. She previously scored nine points against the Sparks and 12 points against the Aces in limited minutes since returning from injury.
Clark appears to still be feeling the affects of her injury while falling short Wednesday of her season-long numbers of 20.1 points, 42.7% shooting from the field and 33.1% shooting from 3.
Caitlin Clark avoided a technical foul for a confrontation with ref Wednesday night.
(Icon Sportswire)
Clark avoids technical foul
Clark also flirted with a technical foul in the second quarter. She was upset about not drawing a foul call on contact on a drive to the basket. She came up from the contact limping briefly. At the next stoppage in play, Clark got in the face of referee Gerda Gatling and yelled.
Gatling didn’t whistle Clark for a technical, but appeared to issue a warning. Clark briefly left the court for the locker room after the confrontation, but quickly returned to the Fever bench.
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With the loss, the Fever fell to 14-10, surrendering sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. They’re now tied atop the conference with the 14-10 Atlanta Dream.
The Valkyries, meanwhile, won their eighth straight an improved to 18-7 to move a half game ahead of the Las Vegas Aces for sole possession of second place in the West behind the 19-6 Minnesota Lynx.
Gabby Williams led six Golden State players in double figures with 16 points as the Valkyries shot 51.7% from the field and limited the Fever to a 40.3% clip.
