Aari McDonald did not sugarcoat her words.
Aari McDonald Admits Disappointment as Caitlin Clark-Less Fever Suffer Blowout Loss originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Caitlin Clark missed Wednesday's game against the New York Liberty due to the right groin injury she suffered during Tuesday's outing. With her sidelined, the Indiana Fever got blown out by the reigning WNBA champions.
The Liberty made easy work of the Fever, leading by as many as 27 points before settling for a 98-77 win. Indiana only led once after scoring first in the contest, but it was all New York after that.
Breanna Stewart led the way for the Liberty with a monster performance of 24 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks. Four other players scored in double figures for New York, with Sabrina Ionescu adding 15 and Natasha Cloud chipping in 14.
Kelsey Mitchell was the highest scorer for the Fever with 16 points — 13 of which came in a hot first half. Aliyah Boston, in particular, struggled mightily and made just seven points on 1-of-8 shooting.
The loss ended the Fever's three-game winning streak as they dropped to 12-11 on the season. Naturally, the whole team was frustrated with their rather uncharacteristic display.
Aari McDonald, who had 10 points and five assists in the loss, didn't sugarcoat her words following the defeat and admitted that it was a pitiful performance.
"That's just disappointing," McDonald remarked, per Scott Agnes of FieldHouse Files. "That's not us, that's not how we play."
McDonald has every reason to be frustrated, though. Entering the contest, the Fever were averaging 46.1% from the field and 33.5% from deep. Against the Liberty, they shot a horrendous 36.8% overall and 25% from 3-point range.
The Fever now head into the All-Star break with plenty to ponder on. They are still in a good position to make the playoffs, but they definitely need to improve their play if they want to be title contenders.
Indiana returns to action against the Liberty on July 22. Whether they will have Caitlin Clark back or not remains to be seen, but regardless, plenty of eyes will be on them to see if they can bounce back and prove they are a better team than what they showed on Wednesday.
Related: Lexie Hull Posts Message After Caitlin Clark News
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
