Caitlin Clark v. Angel Reese: A Rivalry with a Foregone Conclusion

Angel Reese is a machine when it comes to collecting rebounds. But it’s probably too late for her to grab the Rookie of the Year award from Caitlin Clark.Ms. Clark and the surging Indiana Fever will visit Ms. Reese and the Chicago Sky Friday night in their final showdown of the WNBA regular season. Anytime Ms. Clark and Ms. Reese meet there is an extra layer of hype. The two have been linked since college and played together in the WNBA All-Star Game.They are central to the league’s unprecedented popularity and debate has persisted on which player should win the Rookie of the Year award. With three weeks to go before the playoffs begin, there should be little doubt about it. Ms. Clark has made that a no-brainer with her all-around play since the Olympic break. Not only has the No.1 overall draft pick raised her play, but the Fever is a team to be reckoned with after an 84-80 victory over the Connecticut Sun Wednesday night at Indianapolis.Ms. Clark set a WNBA rookie record for 3-pointers while scoring 19 points, and Kelsey Mitchell scored 23 as the Fever won for the fourth time in five games since the Summer Games at Paris. The Fever snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Sun, a team that beat them three times this season by an average margin of 14 points, including a 92-71 romp in May. The Fever hadn’t defeated the Sun (22-8) since 2021.“For us, it was just about not taking it anymore. It was a matter of ‘Do you want to win or you don’t,’” Ms. Mitchell said, adding, “We’re not going to be bullied. We know how great these teams are. But we’ve got confidence in our team, too.”The Fever (15-16) is a different team from those early months of uncertainty when players were just getting to know each other. Ms. Mitchell, a seven-year veteran, was returning from an ankle injury and Ms. Clark was fresh out of college. Now Indiana is confident, and priming for a playoff run.“When you can stack confidence from game to game that’s the biggest thing for a team,” Ms. Clark told reporters after Wednesday’s game. “You’re seeing our confidence grow at a different level than it was at the beginning of the year.”Ms. Reese has plenty to brag about, too. She broke the WNBA record for double-doubles earlier this season and has enjoyed a solid rookie year for the Sky, who carry an 11-19 record into Friday’s game. Her three-game streak of 20-plus rebounds ended in a 74-70 loss to the Washington Mystics Wednesday.While Ms. Reese has established herself as a prolific rebounder, Ms. Clark’s impact on her team makes her the Rookie of the Year.Her stat line is impressive, averaging 18 points, 8.1 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. She also has 88 three-pointers this season, passing the rookie season record of 85 set by Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream in 2022. Earlier this month, Ms. Clark broke the rookie record for assists of 225 set in 1998. She has 252 and counting. More importantly, the Fever after a 2-9 start is becoming a team to be feared.“What Caitlin brought obviously helped,” Ms. Mitchell said. “Her play and utilizing us to show as a group what we can do is super special. I think that swag is going to continue to drip because we’re only jelling more and more together. The sky’s the limit for us.”Ms. Mitchell’s presence has been a huge asset for Ms. Clark, who doesn’t carry the burden of being the team’s best player. Ms. Mitchell has taken advantage, scoring 20 points or more in four straight games. She is the team’s heart and soul and Ms. Clark’s mentor.“With me coming in as a rookie, she was always a positive voice and very supportive,” Ms. Clark said. “That made me feel very welcomed coming in as a rookie and getting to play with someone who has been really good in this organization. I feel very fortunate because I know that’s not every situation for a rookie. I’m just very thankful.”Fever coach Christie Sides admitted her team has come a long way since the opening month when they won just two of their first 11 games and Ms. Clark was creating more turnovers than a bakery.“When we came out of the Olympic break and won those two games it was a different feel out there,” Ms. Sides said. “There’s this joy and excitement. It’s created a different feeling around the team. A lot of it has to do with their relationships and how that’s grown. There were a lot of dark days and a lot of doubters. But they kept showing up and kept improving in areas we needed to improve.”Ms. Clark has done her part, enough to earn the Rookie of the Year award. But first things first. Ms. Mitchell summed it up best. “Right now, it’s about winning as many games as possible to get that playoff spot,” she said.

Caitlin Clark v. Angel Reese: A Rivalry with a Foregone Conclusion

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