The Fever have officially secured the sixth seed in the 2024 WNBA Playoffs.
A Connecticut Sun loss and a Las Vegas Aces win would guarantee the Aces the third seed, which means a Fever-Aces playoff bout is a possibility, pitting Caitlin Clark against former Hawkeyes Kate Martin and Megan Gustafson.
The Aces took back-to-back victories over the Fever this week to aid their pursuit of the third seed, though it didn’t change either team’s placement in the league standings.
Clark put up a sub-par performance in the first game compared to the numbers she’s posted over the past month, logging 16 points, six assists, and three rebounds on 6-of-22 shooting in the 86-75 loss on Sept. 11.
Clark rebounded nicely in the 78-74 loss on Sept. 13, finishing with a near triple-double of 18 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, and one steal on 7-of-18 shooting. Luckily for Indiana, there’s a sizable gap between it and the seventh seed, so the two losses didn’t impact its place in the standings.
With that being said, the 110-109 crunch time win over the Dallas Wings on Sept. 15 holds almost no impact, but was a good win nonetheless. Clark put on an encore performance for a historic rookie season by furnishing a career-high 35 points along with eight assists, three steals, and two rebounds on 10-of-22 shooting.
That made the basketball player from Des Moines the all-time leader in points scored in a rookie season, adding to the plethora of records she’s already broken this year.
Indiana holds one more scheduled matchup against the Washington Mystics before the WNBA playoffs begin on Sept. 22.
Hawks on Aces see dip in usage
As the playoffs are set to begin in a matter of days, Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon is setting her postseason rotation that consists of minimal playing time for guard Kate Martin and center Megan Gustafson.
In the set of games against Indiana, Gustafson logged eight minutes and put up five points on two made field goals. Martin, however, didn’t see any action in both contests.
In the 84-71 win over the Connecticut Sun on Sept. 15, Gustafson played 19 minutes and produced eight points, two rebounds, two steals, and one block on 3-of-5 shooting. Martin played just one minute and failed to record a stat.
Las Vegas grabbed the 85-72 win over the Seattle Storm to secure a top four playoff seed. Martin never checked into the game, but Gustafson saw eight minutes and recorded one rebound.
With back-to-back wins over the Sun and Storm, the Aces have positioned themselves to possibly steal the third seed before the regular season concludes.