Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White was welcomed back to the sidelines with a 77–58 loss to the Atlanta Dream. The team is struggling to find a strong footing without stars Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham.

Natasha Howard led Indiana with 15 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and one steal. After the game, she credited Atlanta as the better team.

“I give credit to Atlanta. They played good tonight,” she said. “They did what they needed to do. They put pressure on us in the paint. I don’t know how many we was in the paint, but they outscored us in the paint. They were more physical than us.”

Caitlin Clark

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts to a basket.

© Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

White echoed similar words. She, too, felt that Karl Smesko’s physical strategy disrupted their gameplay going into the second half. Atlanta’s dominant postplay won them the game.

“We’re still learning, but when it comes to teams that have dominant post players, we have to get them out of the post. Put them in more ball screens… instead of us trying to pound with them as well,” Howard said.

Up next, Indiana will face the New York Liberty on Saturday, and Clark could make her comeback after suffering an injury when the teams met last month.

White is being extra careful, giving her a longer rest to ensure a full recovery. She plans to give Clark the entire week to practice and test her quad.

“We’re going to be smart, and we’re going to be cautious, and we’re going to play the long game and work her back in very intentionally,” White said.