'Resilient' Fever Praised By HC After WNBA Commissioners Cup Win Without Caitlin Clark

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White praised her team for remaining "resilient" while missing Caitlin Clark and facing the WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx in Tuesday's Commissioner's Cup championship game.

Natasha Howard and Aliyah Boston both put up double-doubles to lead the Fever to a 74-59 victory over the Lynx.

"We have a resilient group," White said at the 2:30 mark of her postgame press conference when asked if she had learned anything about her team from the win. "They're tough, mentally, physically. They pull for one another. I don't know if it's something that I learned, that I didn't already know. It's just, I'm proud for them, that they can see it come to fruition.

"Being able to handle the ebbs and flows of the game, being able to give to one another, regardless of struggles. I mean, we had some players that were struggling. We had some moments where we struggled. But we still gave to one another, and that's a growth area for our team."

White concluded, "I'm just really proud of this group. We're going to continue to get better, we're going to continue to stack days. It's nice to take a trophy home, but this isn't the ultimate goal. It's a goal, and we've got to continue to get better."

The Fever announced on Tuesday that Clark would miss the Commissioner's Cup final, and her third straight game, with a left groin injury.

Clark had missed five games earlier this season with a quad injury, which has contributed to the Fever's struggles to stay above .500 this season.

When available Clark has ranked second only to Kelsey Mitchell for the team scoring lead with 18.2 points per game. The Fever have a net rating of plus-7.4 with her on the court and a rating of plus-3.0 when she's on the sideline, according to WNBA stats.

Clark's absence appeared particularly noticeable in the first quarter on Tuesday, when the Lynx climbed out to an early eight-point lead.

The Fever's defense then clamped down in the second quarter as Howard, Boston, Mitchell and Sophie Cunningham helped Indiana recover from the early deficit. Minnesota was held without a point for the last 18 minutes of the quarter.

The Lynx then trailed for the entirety of the second half, finishing the game having shot a collective 34.9 percent from the field and gone 4-for-16 from deep against the Fever's defense.

Indiana may need to find similar resilience going forward if Clark misses more time with her latest injury. White said on Tuesday that the team is focusing on "the big picture" in helping the second-year WNBA star through her recovery, per The Athletic's Ben Pickman.

The Fever currently sit third in the Eastern Conference and eighth in the WNBA with an 8-8 record. The team returns to action on Thursday night against A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces.