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The Golden State Valkyries were the first team to test out the Indiana Fever in Caitlin Clark's first game back from a recent injury. As such, many eyes were on the matchup of former Iowa Hawkeyes teammates Kate Martin of the Valkyries and Clark, who was absent in the previous five Indiana games because of a groin injury.
But despite Clark's return, the Fever fell prey to Martin and the Valkyries on Wednesday at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana. Golden State blew out the Fever via a score of 80-61, with Martin contributing just five points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field to go with two rebounds in 19 minutes. Clark, on the other hand, appears to be far from her top form, as she finished with 10 points on a salty 4-for-12 shooting, six assists and a steal with four turnovers through 25 minutes of action.
Following the game, Martin was asked about her thoughts on the Valkyries ending a two-game losing skid in a challenging setting away from home.
“We know that this is a really hard place to play, especially on the road,” Martin said while being interviewed after the game (h/t Matt Lively of CBS Sports).
“They're a really good team and we're coming off of two losses, so we knew that we had to be really locked in as a team and come out with a great defensive game plan and I thought we executed well tonight,” added Martin, who played four seasons with Clark at Iowa.
Martin also commented about the enormous Caitlin Clark poster on the Indianapolis JW Marriott.
“Yeah, I mean that's where we stayed so it was literally just right there on the building,” Martin shared. “It's just super cool how the city's embraced her and I just think that's always cool to see one of your best friends thriving.
Golden State improved to 10-9 with the win over the Fever, as Veronica Burton led the Valkyries with 21 points while Kayla Thornton chipped in 18 points. Up ahead for Golden State is a date with the Las Vegas Aces this coming Saturday at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.
