Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham's Final Box Score Stats, Highlights as Fever Beat Mercury

The Indiana Fever are back on track.

Following two straight losses to the Atlanta Dream, the Fever bounced back with an 86-77 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Monday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Caitlin Clark helped spearhead the effort as she so often does with 24 points and nine assists, while Kelsey Mitchell and Monique Billings provided important secondary contributions as Sophie Cunningham had a quiet night.

Indiana is now 10-7 on the season, while Phoenix dropped to 5-13 despite impressive showings from Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper.

Indiana Fever
Player	Points	Assists	Rebounds
Caitlin Clark	24	9	3
Kelsey Mitchell	22	1	1
Monique Billings	14	1	10
Sophie Cunningham	2	0	6
Phoenix Mercury
Player	Points	Assists	Rebounds
Kahleah Copper	20	0	3
Alyssa Thomas	19	9	5

All eyes were on the Fever going into this one after their two straight losses, especially since this was a golden opportunity to bounce back against one of the league's worst teams.

Yet they must have missed the memo in the early going, as they turned in one of the ugliest quarters of the entire WNBA season out of the gates and scored a grand total of six points in the first.

Half of those points came on a Mitchell three-pointer in the final seconds, so it could have been even worse.

The Phoenix defense deserved plenty of credit, as it swarmed the outside shooters such as Clark and Cunningham all while cutting off the driving lanes. In fact, Thomas outscored the Fever in the first quarter by herself, and the most exciting part of the quarter for the home fans may have been when Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton helped get a stuck ball from behind the backboard.

Then the second quarter started.

Indiana looked like a completely different team as it poured in 35 points in the quarter with Clark finding her outside shooting stroke and putting the team on her back for extended stretches. She scored 15 points in the quarter alone with an unstoppable combination of threes and drives into the lane and was in full control after a terrible start.

It was just a matter of time before the Fever seized full control, and they quickly extended the lead to double digits in the third quarter.

Clark was the driving force when the game turned in the second quarter, but Mitchell's offensive flurry late in the third all but put the game away. The Ohio State product attacked the lane, dropped in a step-back and hit from the outside as she overwhelmed the Mercury defense.

Thomas and Copper did what they could to keep the Mercury within striking distance, and it helped the visitors' case when Clark went to the bench with five fouls. Still, Copper fouled out as the fourth quarter eventually turned into nothing but a formality.

The two teams will face each other again on Wednesday, meaning the Fever will have a chance to build some sustained momentum in a favorable matchup.