Fever Outshine Mercury as Aari McDonald Shines in Breakout Win
Let’s talk about one of the more exciting games in recent WNBA action — the Indiana Fever’s 107-101 win over the Phoenix Mercury. And get this — it all happened without Caitlin Clark on the court. Yeah, Clark is still recovering from a groin injury and has now missed five straight games. But this Fever team? They’re finding ways to win without her, and Wednesday night’s victory was a prime example of that.
The star of the show? Aari McDonald. She absolutely lit it up with a career-high 27 points. She shot 7-for-11 from the field, went 3-for-4 from deep, and didn’t miss a single free throw — 10-for-10. Talk about locked in. In the postgame interview, she said it came down to confidence. She didn’t like how she’d been playing lately, so she showed up with an “attack mentality” — and it paid off big time.
Aliyah Boston had a huge night as well, putting up 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. And together, the Fever shot 52% from the floor. That kind of efficiency made it really hard for Phoenix to keep up, despite their own strong showing.
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Alyssa Thomas led the Mercury with 32 points and 15 rebounds — a monster double-double — and Kahleah Copper added 22 more. But Phoenix couldn’t hold their early lead. They were up by 10 at the end of the first quarter, but Indiana stormed back in the second and never looked back. That second quarter turned the game — the Fever outscored the Mercury 35 to 20 and went into halftime up by five.
By the third quarter, it was a tight battle again, with the Fever clinging to a two-point lead. But the fourth is where they really pulled away. Boston went on a personal scoring spree early in the quarter, and McDonald helped seal the deal with clutch free throws and big buckets. Sophie Cunningham even chipped in with a four-point play during that stretch.
And yes, the crowd made its voice heard when DeWanna Bonner returned to Indiana — plenty of boos from fans still feeling that early-season “divorce.”
One fun side note — the Fever wore their “Stranger Things” themed jerseys again, part of a collab with Netflix. The show’s set in Indiana, so it’s a cool little cultural nod while the team continues building momentum.
With this win, the Fever have now won three straight and improved to 15-12. The Mercury drop to 16-10. And even without their star, Indiana looks dangerous. If this version of McDonald keeps showing up, opposing teams better watch out.
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