The headlines going into this first-round matchup between the Sun and the Fever were all about Caitlin Clark, but evidently Marina Mabrey missed the memo. She clearly thought it was all about her, as Mabrey hit five three-pointers while putting up 27 points to lead Connecticut to a surprisingly easy 93-69 victory.
Clark's problematic performance was the other big story of this game. She struggled from long range and never got going, and she ended up with just 11 points. To add injury to insult, she ended up with an emerging black eye after an unfortunate encounter with DeJonai Carrington's elbow.
Clark's struggles defined the first half for Indiana
The big surprise in the first quarter was the pace. Any expectations that the Sun were doing to slow things down and turn the game into a slog quickly vanished, and the fast-paced, up-and-down game produced a lot of points in a hurry. Connecticut ended the quarter up 23-20, and they were led by Dewanna Bonner with ten points.
Indiana fans, meanwhile, were likely surprised by their team's balanced scoring. They were picked up in the second quarter with some unlikely scoring from Damaris Dantas, who had ten, and Kelsey Mitchell was her usual electric self once she got going. She turned out to be the Fever's leading scorer for the half with 11.
There were two big issues in the second quarter--some surprising problems with the clock, of all things, and the struggles of Caitlin Clark. There were several unexpected stoppages due to the clock, which was apparently being triggered inadvertently to the point where the decision was finally made to reset it manually.
The larger story, though, was Caitlin Clark's issues in her first half of playoff basketball. She was clearly bothered by having the 6'3" Dewanna Bonner on her rather than the smaller Carrington, and she ended the half just 1 for 9, with 6 misses from beyond the arc.
Her struggles helped Connecticut slowly establish a firm lead, and the Sun also capitalized on three Lexie Hull fouls, which allowed them to go on a brief 10-2 run. That gave them a halftime lead of 46-38, with Bonner posting 16 as Alyssa Thomas added 12 on her way to an impressive triple-double.
Connecticut Sun pull away in the second half
The Sun extended their lead in the third quarter as they continued to outplay Indiana and keep the Fever on their heels. The good news for the Fever was that Clark finally got going with her first shots from beyond the arc, and she ended the quarter with 11.
The bad news was that the Sun were able to counter her all-too-brief scoring run with a secret weapon of their own--Marina Mabrey. Mabrey answered Clark's threes with a pair of her own, then went on to add a third to finish the quarter with a total of 18. The margin was still reasonable as the third quarter ended with with the Sun leading 68-57, but the uphill climb simply proved to be too much for the Fever.
The route was on in the final frame
Indiana has made numerous fourth quarter comebacks this season, but they clearly had nothing left for Connecticut. Clark's shooting woes continued, and when Kelsey Mitchell began to struggle from long range, the game was basically over. Clark and Mitchell ended up shooting 2 for 13 and 2 for 10, respectively, and that basically negated an impressive outing from Boston, who scored 17 to go with 11 rebounds.
Connecticut continued to pour it on with more Mabrey, as Bonner added 22 and Carrington chipped in with 14, and Mabrey's point total from off the bench was the largest in WNBA history. The Fever emptied their bench in the last couple of minutes, and they'll look to regroup on Wednesday night in an effort to recover from their poor play in the second half and save their season.