Caitlin Clark's 32 points help Fever take down Storm

Caitlin Clark scored 32 points and had seven assists and fellow All-Star Kelsey Mitchell added 28 points as the Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Fever held off the host Seattle Storm 105-95 Tuesday night.

Monique Billings added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Fever (18-10), who won their fourth consecutive game. Sophie Cunningham and Aliyah Boston scored 11 apiece.

Boston, Indiana's third All-Star, left midway through the second quarter with what the team termed a lower right leg injury and didn't return.

Natisha Hiedeman scored a career-high 33 points and had six rebounds and four assists for the Storm (6-24), who suffered their seventh straight loss and are in last place in the Western Conference. Rookie Flau'jae Johnson added 16 points before fouling out, Awa Fam scored 11 and Zia Cooke had 10 off the bench.

The Storm played without All-Star Dominique Malonga (back) and fellow frontcourt starter Ezi Magbegor (broken nose).

Indiana's Myisha Hines-Allen opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and Mitchell added back-to-back treys to extend the lead to 85-76 and Seattle never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

The Fever shot 51.6% from the field (33 of 64), including 13 of 24 from 3-point range. They were 26 of 26 from the free-throw line, one shy of the WNBA record for most makes in a game without a miss. The Storm shot 40.5% (32 of 79) and was 11 of 34 from distance.

The Storm outscored Indiana 25-18 in the third quarter to pull within 76-72. An 8-0 run, which included 3-pointers by Cooke and Fam, got Seattle within 65-63. Clark nearly single-handedly kept Indiana out front, scoring all but two of her team's points in the quarter.

Indiana extended its advantage to 20 points early in the second quarter and led 46-31 when Boston collided with Johnson and crumpled to the court with 4:56 left. Boston left the court and hobbled back to the locker room with a towel draped over her head. The Storm went on a 14-5 run to pull within six before the Fever closed the quarter with a 7-2 spurt, including a step-back 3-pointer by Mitchell with one second left, to make it 58-47 at the half.

The Fever took a 37-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. Cunningham scored 11 points in just 4:26 off the bench, making all three of her 3-point attempts. The Fever scored the game's first seven points before Seattle rallied to go ahead 10-9, its only lead of the night.

--Fielad Level Media