Everything Caitlin Clark, Stephanie White Said After Fever's Loss to Breanna Stewart, Liberty

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White wants to see more consistency from her squad following a 109-102 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday.

"I thought that there were some moments where we made them uncomfortable. Not enough," White told reporters in her post-game press conference. "When we were up into the ball pressuring, I thought we got some really good things on the defensive end. And then there were lapses, lapses that caused fouls that went to free throws. Lapses that allowed offensive rebounds. Lapses that allowed soft switches into cuts. Lapses on the offensive end where we didn't move the ball. We didn't find the right play, didn't find the right pass."

White cited how the Fever shot 57.1 percent overall and went 11-of-26 on three-pointers, yet came out on the losing end.

"More than anything, I think this is just an opportunity for us to keep learning how much of a sense of urgency you have to play with every single possession," she said. "This is playoff basketball right now and there has to be an urgency every single possession."

The Fever are in the fourth leg of a five-game road trip, which got underway on Aug. 16. Star Caitlin Clark didn't want to use the schedule as an excuse for the team's showing against New York.

"Yeah our schedule's tough — I think we play more back-to-backs than just about anybody in the league," she said. "But it is what it is. … Everybody's tired. Everybody's sore. Who cares? Figure out a way to make yourself feel better and suit up and go play."

Clark finished with 21 points, four rebounds and seven assists. She was one of three Fever players to score 20-plus points, joining Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston. Mitchell added to her WNBA record by doing it for the 22nd straight game.

"I think it says what a high level that she's playing at," White said of the dynamic guard. "I think it shows how difficult it is to guard her one-on-one. I think the biggest thing for me is how she's doing it in a lot of different ways. You used to play Kelsey a lot to just get downhill. You would play her for the spot-up. I think her ability to play off two feet, to get to the free-throw line, to read the game in a number of ways has been really impressive. It's tough to do what she's been doing night in and night out."

Looking ahead, Clark put a positive spin on Indiana's difficult stretch by pointing out the team can quickly rebound on Sunday against the Chicago Sky before it has a few days off to recover.

The Fever have clinched a playoff berth but will want to improve their position in the WNBA standings. At 24-14, they're in fifth and only trail the second-place Golden State Valkyries by three games.

Getting into fourth would mean having home-court advantage in the best-of-three first round, and climbing to third would allow Indy to avoid the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the semifinals.

In general, the Fever have looked better since the WNBA All-Star break but have some areas in which they need to sharpen up over the final month.