Mercury cut big deficit to four but fall to Fever

Indiana's Kelsey Mitchell scored a team-high 28 points, helping the Fever go wire to wire for a 95-86 win over the visiting Phoenix Mercury on Friday.

Aliyah Boston added 21 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for Indiana (10-14), which has won two of its last three games. Caitlin Clark chipped in 20 points and 13 assists for the Fever, followed by NaLyssa Smith's 14 points and 10 boards.

Kahleah Copper led Phoenix (12-11) with tallied 36 points on 11 of 25 shooting, although she was just 3 of 11 on 3-point attempts. Sophie Cunningham tallied 21 points, and Mikiah Hebert-Harrigan and Natasha Mack each chipped in 10 for the Mercury, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Indiana led by 20 at halftime, and Mitchell's midrange jumper and Smith's three-point play extended the lead to 65-40 with 7:12 left in the third quarter.

Cunningham's 3-pointer cut the Mercury's deficit to 22, but the Fever went on an 11-3 burst, capped by Boston's putback with 3:01 left in the third. Mitchell drained a 3-pointer to give Indiana an 81-50 lead, but Phoenix finished the third on an 8-0 run.

The Mercury continued their run into the fourth, scoring the first nine points to cut their deficit to 81-67 on Cunningham's deep 3-pointer with 7:27 left.

Another Cunningham trey cut Indiana's lead to 85-74 at the 5:31 mark, before Copper's pullup jumper trimmed the deficit to single digits for the first time since midway through the second quarter.

Copper made two free throws and a reverse layup to pull within 85-81 with 3:12 remaining, before Smith's much needed hook shot gave Indiana a six-point lead.

Boston hit a jumper with about two minutes to play, and Mitchell drained a triple with 1:33 left for some breathing room at 92-83.

In the first quarter, Copper's triple cut Phoenix's early deficit to 15-10, but a pair of layups by Boston and Mitchell's bucket gave Indiana a 21-10 advantage at the 3:11 mark.

Leading 23-14, Mitchell drained a 3-pointer and Katie Lou Samuelson made a layup, pushing the Fever's lead to 28-14. Indiana led 28-16 after the first.

Up 38-27, Smith's layup gave the Fever a 13-point advantage, followed by Cunningham's 3-pointer for Phoenix. Clark then scored the next five points, giving Indiana a 45-30 lead with 2:08 left in the first.

From there, the Fever finished on a 10-5 run, for a 55-35 halftime lead. Mitchell led the Fever with 17 in the first half. Copper paced Phoenix with 13.

--Field Level Media