Natasha Howard Leads Fever Past Dream Despite Caitlin Clark's Three-Pointer Drought

Natasha Howard scored 26 points to lead the Indiana Fever past the Atlanta Dream 81-76 in a sellout crowd at State Farm Arena. The win split a two-game series between the teams this week, after Atlanta took a narrow 91-90 victory on Tuesday night.

A notable storyline was Caitlin Clark's three-pointer drought, as she missed each of her five attempts and ended a streak of 140 games without being held without a three-pointer. The last time it happened was January 13, 2022, during her sophomore season at Iowa.

Clark finished with 11 points and six assists, while teammate Aliyah Boston also picked up four fouls early in the third quarter. Boston's only two field goals came from Clark finding her for layups.

Kelsey Mitchell's three-pointer gave Indiana a 76-75 lead, but Clark responded by finding Boston for another layup to extend the lead to 79-76.

Rhyne Howard led Atlanta with 24 points. Clark said before the game that she was enjoying the NBA playoffs and even took video of herself reacting to Tyrese Haliburton's overtime-jumping shot that sent Game 1 into overtime.

Sophie Cunningham scored nine points in her debut for Indiana after missing the first two games due to a right ankle sprain. Coach Stephanie White said Cunningham was cleared to play with no restrictions on her minutes.

The Dream announced that guard Jordin Canada, out with a right knee injury, will resume basketball activities "in the coming weeks." The game marked the Dream's first sellout at State Farm Arena, which has a capacity of 16,888 compared to their normal home venue, Gateway Center Arena, which holds only 3,500.