(CNN) — In the build-up to the WNBA’s return after the Olympic Games, Caitlin Clark said she had been ready to get going again for a while.
In Friday’s matchup against the Phoenix Mercury, the star rookie looked like she’d never been away as the 22-year-old lit up the game with another standout performance.
Clark led the Indiana Fever to an important 98-89 win against the Mercury as the Fever began their push for a place in the playoffs.
Contributing her 10th double-double of this season, Clark scored a team-high 29 points and added 10 assists and five rebounds in an all-round performance.
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“It was pretty fun. I think we came out with a lot of energy, it’s just continuing to find a way to sustain that,” Clark said to reporters postgame on returning to the court during the Fever’s hot start.
Indiana led Phoenix 33-16 after the first quarter, during which time Clark scored 13 points, and 54-37 at halftime.
While the Mercury battled back, led by Olympic gold medal winner Kahleah Copper’s game-high 32 points, the Fever did enough to secure a crucial win.
Alongside Clark, Kelsey Mitchell put up 28 points as the backcourt duo got the Fever over the line.
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“We’re trying to do these last 14 (games) as just one game at a time, just take it one game at a time,” Clark told reporters postgame.
“I thought we came out in the first quarter and really set the tone but for us its just one game at a time.”
Fever head coach Christie Sides issued a similar sentiment postgame.
“I really have just been preaching (to) my staff, just find a way to only focus our energy on the next play which is the next game. We aren’t in a position yet to lookahead, we can’t look at what other people are doing. We’ve got to focus on us and our habits and us just improving every game.”
