'Just Tried to Stay Disciplined': Natasha Cloud Details Clutch Stop on Caitlin Clark as Liberty Edge Fever

While Jonquel Jones (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Sabrina Ionescu (23 points) led the scoring, Cloud’s impact was everywhere. She finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five steals, and two blocks, dominating both ends of the floor and spearheading the Liberty’s second-half surge.

“It was a grind,” Jones said. “Indiana played really well, but we trusted each other and got the stops when we needed them.”

New York trailed by 12 in the fourth quarter after Clark’s late-third-quarter fireworks — including a four-point play and a 34-foot buzzer-beater — brought the Fever crowd of 17,247 to its feet. But Cloud, Stewart, and Ionescu anchored a 14-2 Liberty run to regain control.

“It was a physical game,” Ionescu said. “You have to expect that, especially on the road. We made the plays we needed to down the stretch.”

Cloud’s final defensive stand didn’t just preserve the win — it defined New York’s ability to finish close games with poise and toughness. And for a team looking to defend its title, those moments matter most.

Natasha Cloud’s Approach to Guarding Caitlin Clark

Saturday wasn’t Cloud’s first time addressing the discourse around how physical defenders are with Caitlin Clark. In a March interview, she explained that defending Clark—or any star—requires intensity, not special treatment.

“It gets blown up into, ‘Oh, they’re going after Caitlin Clark,’” she said. “But, no, we’re just playing one of the best players that’s in this league the way that any other best player or franchise player has been played.”

That mindset was evident in how she defended the rookie sensation: tight pressure, clean contests, and no fear of the moment. Though Clark still finished with 18 points and 10 assists, she was held to 6-of-18 shooting, 2-of-11 from three, and committed 10 turnovers.

“I thought she got fouled. I think it’s pretty egregious what’s been happening to us the last few games — a minus-31 free throw discrepancy,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said. “I might be able to understand it if we were just chucking threes, but we’re not, we’re attacking the rim. The disrespect right now for our team has been pretty unbelievable, so it’s disappointing that it doesn’t go both ways or it hasn’t gone both ways. But we also can’t allow that to consume us. We’ve got to be able to control the things that we can control.”

The Liberty didn’t dwell on the debate. Instead, they stayed focused on the execution.

“That’s a really good team over there,” head coach Sandy Brondello said. “I’m proud of how we responded, especially after they made their run. We stayed focused, executed our sets, and made some big defensive plays at the end.”

And none were bigger than Cloud’s.