Fever's Clark goes cold, held to 6 points in loss

PORTLAND, Ore. — The expansion Portland Fire held Indiana star Caitlin Clark to six points and rolled to their fourth win in five games in a 100-84 victory over the Fever on Saturday night.

Clark played 22 minutes, going 1-for-7 from the field in just the seventh single-digit scoring night of her career, and her first since June 24, 2025, when she had six points in a win over the Seattle Storm. She got into foul trouble, collecting her fourth in the third quarter, and finished with five fouls.

Clark has struggled over her past two games, combining to shoot 4-of-19 from the field (21%), the worst field goal percentage of her career in a two-game span, according to ESPN Research.

The Fever were coming off a 90-88 loss at the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday night.

Clark acknowledged her foul trouble impacted her in the second half.

“It’s hard when you foul, and you know, I just need to do a better job being straight up, keep the defender in front of me … just move my feet a little bit better and yeah, definitely some tough ones,” Clark said. “But it’s just basketball, just a game, you know? Learn from it, watch the film and come back next game and be ready to go.”

Megan Gustafson had 22 points to lead the expansion Fire. Carla Leite had 18 points and 12 assists, while Emily Engstler had 16 points and 10 rebounds, the first double-doubles for Portland.

Aliyah Boston led the Fever with 18 points and seven rebounds.

The Fire jumped out to a 29-15 lead after the first quarter after a layup from Gustafson, who led all players with eight points in the quarter.

Portland’s dominance continued in the second quarter, with Sarah Ashlee Barker‘s 3-pointer putting the Fire up 44-26 with four minutes to go before the half.

After leading 50-37 at the break. the Fire stretched the lead to 25 points in the third quarter. Barker capped the period with another 3-pointer that put the crowd at the Moda Center on its feet.

With the Fire up 98-79 in the fourth quarter, coach Alex Sarama sat most of his starters.

“We’re a bunch of overlooked players, and I think we all have a chip on our shoulder,” Gustafson said. “I’ve never really been respected as a basketball player until I’ve gotten here, so I’m really thankful for this team, this organization. They really believe in me.”

Clark did not play in the Fever’s May 21 game against the Fire in Indianapolis because of a back issue. The Fever disclosed her injury less than two hours before tipoff, prompting a warning from the WNBA the next day for not reporting the injury sooner. The Fever beat Portland 90-73 without Clark.

The game was a sellout with 19,347 at the Moda Center.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.