Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center. Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Caitlin Clark has rare dud in Fever's surprising loss to Valkyries

By Chris Peterson | Last updated Jun 20, 2025 1:06 AM ET

Caitlin Clark didn't make a three-point field goal and had one of the worst shooting performances of her career in the Fever's surprising 88-77 defeat to the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday night.

For the first time this season, Clark was held below 30% from the field. Even more surprising, she was 0-for-7 from the three-point line. The second-year pro made all five free-throw attempts, but Clark finished with just 11 points. She also had six turnovers.

Clark's 11 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds weren't enough to overcome expansion Golden State which rallied from 13 down in the second half to improve to 6-6 on the season, tying it with Indiana for sixth in the WNBA.

If the WNBA playoffs started tomorrow, the Valkyries would be one of the eight teams to qualify.

That's not the big story, though. That's Clark being held without a three-pointer for just the second time in her career. Earlier this season, Clark went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc against Atlanta in an 81-76 win for Indiana.

The Fever star also had a rough night from the field, making 21.4% of her attempts (3-of-14) — the second lowest of her career.

Kate Martin, Clark's college teammate at Iowa, helped spark Golden State's comeback with seven points near the end of the third quarter.

After that, Indiana's offense fell apart. The Valkyries forced 16 turnovers (six by Clark) compared to seven of their own. They also grabbed eight offensive rebounds.

Kayla Thornton continued her strong season with the Valkyries with 16 points and six rebounds. Golden State also finished with a 45-17 edge, in terms of bench points, thanks to three players reaching double figures, led by 14 from Tiffany Hayes.

It was a statement win for the Valkyries, there is no question about that. It's also costly for the Fever.

Beyond that, it's rare to see Clark struggle. She did on Thursday, even if she was still one assist and three rebounds shy of a triple-double.

Chris Peterson

Chris is a sports fanatic with 20 years of sports writing experience. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, FanSided and Yardbarker. He’s covered the NFL, high school sports and everything in between.

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