WNBA Reacts to Kate Martin's Play Against Caitlin Clark in Fever's Loss to Valkyries
The Indiana Fever hosted the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. This game marked the return of Caitlin Clark, who had missed the last five games due to a groin injury.
Clark’s return setup an exciting matchup between she and her former Iowa Hawkeyes teammate Kate Martin. The two are close friends, and played four collegiate seasons together.
Making this even more exciting, Martin was inserted into the starting lineup for just the second time all season. Getting the promotion from Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase, Martin was rewarded for her recent strong play, which included an 11.8 points per game average over her last five contests.
Martin entered this game 3-0 against Clark at the WNBA level (via StatMuse), and did all she could to stay undefeated against her close friend. Running off a personal 5-0 run early in the third quarter, Martin gave Golden State a spark to begin the second half.
One of her buckets came over Clark, which the WNBA reacted to by resharing the highlight on X with a caption for the Valkyries guard.
"Kate Martin wastes no time heating up after the break 🔋," the league captioned its post. "She scores 5 consecutive points to give the [Valkyries] a 15-PT lead!"
Kate Martin wastes no time heating up after the break 🔋
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 9, 2025
She scores 5 consecutive points to give the @valkyries a 15-PT lead!
GSV-IND | League Pass pic.twitter.com/OXk5xZcsVx
Martin and the Valkyries were able to spoil Clark’s return from injury with a decisive road victory. This win broke a tie between the two teams in the WNBA standings, as they each entered this contest with identical 9-9 records.
Golden State will look to make it consecutive wins on Saturday against the Las Vegas Aces, Martin’s former team.
Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.