Aliyah Boston Highlights How Raven Johnson Complements Caitlin Clark
Indiana Fever fans got their first glimpse of their 2026 roster on April 25, when their team faced off against the New York Liberty in WNBA preseason action.
Granted, not all of the Fever's players competed in this game, as Aliyah Boston, Lexie Hull, Ty Harris, and Damiris Dantas didn't suit up. But it was still a showcase of everybody else on the team as Indiana prepares for their opening night showdown against the Dallas Wings, which arrives on May 9.
A lot of attention was on how Raven Johnson would fare, given that she was the Fever's first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. And she performed great, tallying 6 points (on a perfect 3 of 3 from the field), along with 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks in 18 minutes.
However, Johnson's impact isn't always apparent from the box score. She's an elite defender and will be expected to be the team's primary ball handler when she's on the court and star guard Caitlin Clark isn't.
Johnson was known for being one of the country's best perimeter defenders during her college tenure at South Carolina, which meant her offensive impact was overshadowed at times. But Saturday's preseason contest showed that she can orchestrate the Fever's fast-paced, transition-centric offensive attack.
Aliyah Boston Notes How Raven Johnson Can Help Fever Keep Caitlin Clark Pace
Aliyah Boston spoke to this when addressing the media on April 27. When asked about how cool it was to see Johnson show out in her Fever debut, she said, "It's great. I'm so proud of her. I think Raven shows up every single day, and she's ready to work, and she's ready to win. And so her being able to go out there and play free, and do what she does, great to see," per an X post from @DomMirandaTV.
Boston was then asked how Johnson can elevate the Fever and said, "I think her ability, one, to defend on-ball, and defend anyone on the floor. But also, her ability to push the pace. I think we know that [Caitlin] loves pushing pace, and being able to have Raven in there, pushing it the exact same way, I think it's just gonna be really great for our team."
Aliyah Boston ahead of practice today #Fever @WTHRcom pic.twitter.com/dHpFRFtkdU
— Dominic Miranda (@DomMirandaTV) April 27, 2026
Johnson being able to complement Clark in this way will be massively beneficial for the Fever in terms of maintaining continuity on how they play from game to game and rotation to rotation, which should work wonders for the team's on-court chemistry.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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