Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell lead Fever (again); team over .500 for first time since 2019

DALLAS — The Indiana Fever avenged their July loss to the Dallas Wings, beating them on their home court, 100-93, for their 17th win of the season.

The Fever are now 17-16 and stand at sixth in the WNBA standings — firmly in the playoff hunt.

Here are three observations:

Fever score: Indiana Fever vs Dallas Wings live score updates, Caitlin Clark stats, highlights

Indiana gets a winning record in August for first time since 2016

It’s been a long time coming for the Fever. Eight years, to be exact. The Fever’s win over the Wings gives them a 17-16 record — the first time they’ve had a winning record in August or later since 2016.

Fever record: When was the last time the Indiana Fever were over .500?

Technically, the last time the Fever had a winning record at any point was in 2019, when they started the season at 4-3. But that Fever team also ended the season at 13-21 — something this year’s team has already far surpassed.

With this post-Olympic surge, the Fever are on a definite upward trajectory; they have gone 6-1 in the seven games since the league restart, including two wins over teams that have already clinched the playoffs. Now, after eight years of missing the playoffs, the Fever now have a game advantage over the Phoenix Mercury for the No. 6 spot in the playoffs.

Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell combine for 63 points

Kelsey Mitchell continues to extend a franchise record — she notched her seventh-straight 20+ point game, keeping up a Fever record that she already broke three games ago. Mitchell has scored 20 or more points in each of the Fever’s games since the Olympic break.

Mitchell finished the game with 36 points (two off of her career-high of 38) on 12-of-22 shooting from the field. That, paired with rookie Caitlin Clark’s 28 points, gave the Fever an unstoppable backcourt presence against the Wings.

And the duo has been performing like this together since early July — when things really started to click for the Fever. According to the WNBA’s Mark Schindler, Clark and Mitchell have been averaging 44.3 points per game (22.2 for Clark, 22.1 for Mitchell) in the 12 games the Fever have played since the start of July. It’s the highest-scoring duo in the league during that stretch.

Mitchell’s scoring has been paramount for the Fever in this post-Olympic stretch. As a seven-year veteran, Mitchell is the constant the Fever have needed to be successful.

Arike Ogunbowale paces Wings with 30+ points

At one point in the first quarter, after Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale make her fourth 3-pointer, Mitchell didn’t have any words. Instead, she looked over to coach Christie Sides, standing near the Fever bench, and put up her arms in a defeated shrug.

There wasn’t really any way they could guard the All-Star Game MVP. Really, not many people can — she scored 34 points in one half the All-Star game on her way to the MVP nod.

Ogunbowale stands just 5-8, undersized for the WNBA, but she makes up with it for her quickness and playmaking abilities. It showed in the first meeting between Dallas and Indiana — she scored 24 points and added on seven rebounds and seven assists, playing all but 20 seconds in the Wings’ 101-83 win.

This time around, she had 24 points in the first half alone — over half of Dallas’ 46 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Mitchell and guard Lexie Hull shared the duty of guarding Ogunbowale, but the burden mainly fell on Mitchell as Hull was occupied with Wings forward Satou Sabally.

Ogunbowale’s scoring slowed slightly in the second half — just enough that the Fever could maintain a lead at the end of the game. Ogunbowale finished with 34 points on 12-of-25 shooting, including 9-of-16 from 3-point range.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fever vs. Wings: Clark, Mitchell lead Indiana to win, above .500