Caitlin Clark left the Indiana Fever's 111-109 loss to the Phoenix Mercury with a back injury in the third quarter Wednesday night.

The All-Star guard has been dealing with a back issue this season and left with 5:15 remaining in the third quarter. She went back to the locker room and didn't return.

Clark appeared to tweak her back in the second quarter when she was fouled shooting a 3-pointer in the second quarter. She fell to the ground and was rubbing her back as she stood up.

She finished the game with 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting and eight assists in 20 minutes.

Kahleah Copper made 15 of 16 from the free-throw line and finished with 28 points for Phoenix, which got 24 points from Alyssa Thomas and a career-high 19 from Valeriane Ayayi.

Clark has been listed on the injury report for most of the season with a back injury after she missed one game because of it. The Fever hadn't given her any injury designation for the game she didn't play and were warned by the league for not doing that.

It has been a rough week for Clark, who picked up her fifth technical foul against Phoenix on Monday night. The team is petitioning the league to have it rescinded.

 

Career highs. Season highs. Team highs. pic.twitter.com/bcbHSTXG6o

— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) June 25, 2026

Howard leads league-leading Lynx

Natasha Howard had 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, Olivia Miles scored 10 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, and the Minnesota Lynx rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat the Washington Mystics 78-76.

Kayla McBride made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points for the Lynx (14-4).

Miles hit a step-back jumper that cut Minnesota’s deficit to a point with 3:32 to play. After a Mystics timeout, the Lynx forced a shot-clock violation before Miles fed Howard for a wide-open layup that made it 72-71 - Minnesota’s first lead since 17-16 - and hit a 3 with 1:07 remaining that made it 78-74.

McBride sank the last of her four first-half 3-pointers with 1.1 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 40-all at halftime, but the Lynx made just 3 of 16 (19%) from the field in the third and trailed 65-53 with seven minutes to play.

Sonia Citron led the Mystics with 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

 

Valkyries end Dream’s streak

Gabby Williams scored 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, Kayla Thornton hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, and the Golden State Valkyries beat Atlanta 77-66 to snap the Dream's four-game win streak.

Cecilia Zandalasini added 14 points for the Valkyries (11-7) to open the two-game set. The teams will meet again Friday night in San Francisco.

Rookie Madina Okot was 7 of 9 from the field and led Atlanta (12-5) with 16 points. Rhyne Howard added 12 points.

Angel Reese had 10 points and 12 rebounds. She was 3 of 12 from the field and missed her first eight shots.