Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever qualify for WNBA playoffs

2024 has already been a landmark year for the Guard Caitlin Clarke The situation got even better on Wednesday, as Indiana Fever Qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2016. This ended the franchise’s seven-season postseason drought which was the longest in WNBA history.

Clark, the No. 1 draft pick and front-runner for WNBA Rookie of the Year, and the Fever made the postseason despite not playing Tuesday thanks to Las Vegas’s 90-71 win over Chicago and Phoenix’s 74-66 victory against Atlanta.

Indiana, which improved to 17-16 on Sunday and is coming off its first winning season since June 2019, is sixth in the WNBA, which sends eight teams to the playoffs.

Seven spots are now confirmed, as Phoenix (17-17) also clinched a spot Tuesday after missing the postseason last year for the first time since 2012. Chicago and Atlanta, both 11-22, are battling for the final spot with Washington, which beat Dallas 90-86 on Tuesday and is at 10-23.

New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, Las Vegas and Seattle had already earned postseason spots.

Earlier this year, Clark became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball history and won her second consecutive national championship to finish her Iowa career. She then became the 2023 No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston In Indiana.

Since the Fever’s first media day in May, Clark has talked about the team’s primary goal this season: making the playoffs for the first time since franchise legend Tamika Catchings’ career ended in 2016.

Before the drought, the Fever had made the playoffs 12 consecutive years, including winning the 2012 WNBA championship. But in five of the past seven seasons, the Fever’s win totals have been in the single digits. Attendance declined until 2022, when Indiana went 5-31.

The Fever went 13-27 under first-year coach Christy Sides and with the addition of South Carolina star Boston last year. Then the Fever won the draft lottery again and added Clark.

Boston and Clark and two No. 2 picks, Kelsey Mitchell (2018, from Ohio State) and NaLyssa Smith (2022, from Baylor), has been Indiana’s starting core this season. The Fever got off to a poor 1-8 start but then pulled away. They were 11-15 at the Olympic break and are 6-1 since WNBA play resumed.

Mitchell leads Indiana in scoring (19.0), followed by Clark (18.7), Boston (13.4) and Smith (11.1). Clark leads the WNBA in assists (8.4), and Boston (9.0) is in the league’s top 10 in rebounding.

Indiana has seven games left, six of which will be played at home at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, starting with Wednesday against Los Angeles. The Fever have led the WNBA in viewership this season, drawing big crowds both at home and away.

The Fever are the second team in WNBA history to make the playoffs after starting the season 1–8 or worse. The Charlotte Sting, who disbanded after the 2006 season, made it to the WNBA Finals in 2001 after starting the season 1–8, losing to Los Angeles.