Caitlin Clark’s ‘F’ Grade Shows What Fever Must Fix Against Aces
Defense has held the Indiana Fever back throughout the 2026 season. That was their biggest issue in their blowout 102-85 loss to the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday.
Caitlin Clark, Stephanie White, and Aliyah Boston spoke to the media after the loss and were reminded about how they'd conveyed a need to make things hard for the Aces defensively. Then they were asked how they would grade that effort.
"An F," Clark responded, per a YouTube video from the Fever.
Then White said, "Yeah. I mean, 28 points off of turnovers. Your first line of transition defense is offensive execution, and 28 points off of turnovers, and 17 points from the free throw line. So, those are easy buckets. We didn't do our job."
Indiana's defensive inconsistency was always going to be what held them back. And giving up these easy buckets against the Aces on Sunday now has them at a point where they must win their next two games against the defending WNBA champions or else their season or else their season is over.
Granted, nobody in the world could have stopped A'ja Wilson on Sunday, as she scored a staggering 37 points on 15-of-19 shooting from the field. But the Fever still could have made things more difficult for her and limited Wilson's supporting cast to at least keep the game close.
Fever Have to Fix Defensive Flaws at Home in Game 2
Indiana has not been better on defense at home than on the road. They allowed 90.5 points per game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Arena and 90.3 points per game in road contests during the regular season.
If there's any silver lining for Indiana, the Aces are almost certainly not going to shoot 59% from the field and 47% from three-point range on Tuesday. Some of that was owed to the Fever's defense, but some of it was absurd (and unsustainable) efficiency from the Aces.
A'ja Wilson is going to get her points, and there's very little that the Fever can do to stop her when she's playing at the level she did on Sunday. But if they can at least make her shots difficult and limit the easy looks that Wilson's teammates get, they should be in a more favorable position during Game 2.
If not, the Fever's season will end with a lot of frustration and disappointment.
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Grant Young covers women’s basketball for Women’s Fastbreak and Indiana Fever On SI. His coverage centers on league trends and the growth of women’s basketball, both on and off the court. He also creates digital content focused on the sport’s biggest moments and personalities.
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