Kelsey Mitchell becomes strong complement to Caitlin Clark, and they have the Fever in the playoffs

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Kelsey Mitchell becomes strong complement to Caitlin Clark, and they have the Fever in the playoffs

2024-09-04 12:05 Last Updated At：12:10

Kelsey Mitchell has become the perfect backcourt running mate with Caitlin Clark, and the two guards have led the Indiana Fever's resurgence since the Olympic break. Now they have Indiana in the playoffs.

The team has won six of seven and is over .500 for the first time since June 13, 2019. The Fever, who improved to 17-16 with Sunday's win over Dallas, had gone an WNBA-record 189 straight games without a winning record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Indiana clinched its first playoff appearance since 2016 when Chicago and Atlanta both lost Tuesday night. The Fever are sixth in the standings.

Mitchell is one of the few players left on the roster from the Fever's lean years; she arrived in 2018 and hadn't won more than 13 games in any season until this year.

“I know what the bottom feels like, and I don’t want to be there no more,” Mitchell said,

Mitchell has scored more than 20 points in all seven games since the nearly monthlong break for the Paris Games. She's averaging 28.3 points over that span — second best in the league behind A'ja Wilson. Overall, Mitchell is having her best season scoring, averaging 19 points. She was Indiana’s leading scorer last season, when she averaged 18.2 points per game.

“I think Kelsey has been playing really good basketball. She only makes my life easier when you have that 1-2 combo in the backcourt," Clark said. "It’s lot of fun for myself to play that way. I think we’re just playing up-tempo.”

Mitchell agrees and has been having fun playing with Clark, who leads the league in assists with 8.4 a game.

“I think that me and Caitlin, as well as our group, I think we just found a way,” Mitchell said. “I think our pace is kind of setting us apart from a lot of different teams. Because you like to get the ball up and down the court at such a high pace. And I think the way that we play, it just makes our games thrive even more.”

The Fever have six consecutive home games starting Wednesday against the last-place Los Angeles Sparks before the regular-season finale at Washington.

New York remains in the top spot in this week's AP WNBA power poll as the first four teams remain unchanged. Minnesota, Connecticut and Las Vegas were next atop the poll. Indiana moved up to fifth with Seattle sixth. Phoenix, Atlanta and Dallas were next. Chicago dropped to 10th with Washington and Los Angeles rounding out the poll.

Clark had another solid week, averaging 26.3 points, 9.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds to help the Fever win all three of their games. She's still turning the ball over a bit too much, averaging 5.7 in the three victories, but the ball has been in her hands a lot. Clark also hit 13 3-pointers in those games, blowing past Rhyne Howard's rookie record of 85 set in 2022. Indiana's young star now has 98 on the season.

Angel Reese became the WNBA’s single-season rebounding leader with eight games remaining. Chicago's rookie finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds for her 24th double-double, a league rookie record. She has 418 rebounds for an average of 13.1 per game, with her total surpassing Sylvia Fowles’ record of 404 in 2018. The 6-foot-3 Reese also broke the record for offensive rebounds with 165, passing Yolanda Griffiths (162 in 2001).

Phoenix Mercury guard Natasha Cloud will sit out the team's next game after accruing her seventh technical foul of the season in a loss to Las Vegas on Sunday. Under WNBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game upon receiving a seventh technical foul during the regular season. For every two additional technical fouls received during that season, the player or coach will be automatically suspended for an additional game.

Wilson had another impressive set of games to earn AP Player of the Week honors as the Aces star averaged 36.3 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks to help Las Vegas go 2-1. Indiana's Mitchell also received votes.

Las Vegas at New York, Sunday. The Aces have been playing better lately and were fourth in the standings entering the week. They have a big trip upcoming with games at Connecticut and New York before finishing the trip with a pair games at Indiana.

AP Sports Writer Schuyler Dixon contributed to this report.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

India says it targeted Pakistani military bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles

2025-05-10 13:45 Last Updated At：13:50

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — India said it targeted Pakistani military bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at multiple Indian air bases in the country’s Punjab state early Saturday.

Indian Col. Sofiya Qureshi, at a press conference in New Delhi, said Pakistan also targeted health facilities and schools at its three air bases in Indian-controlled Kashmir. “Befitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions,” she said.

The Pakistani army’s actions were “provocation” and India’s response was “measured,” foreign secretary Vikram Misri said.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan said India fired missiles at three air bases inside the country Saturday but most of the missiles were intercepted and that retaliatory strikes on India were underway. It’s the latest escalation in a conflict triggered by a massacre last month that India blames on Pakistan.

The Pakistani military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and airbases in Pathankot and Udhampur. There was no way to independently verify all the actions attributed to Pakistan or India.

Army spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, said Pakistan's air force assets were safe following the Indian strikes, adding that some of the Indian missiles also hit India’s eastern Punjab.

“This is a provocation of the highest order,” Sharif said. There was no immediate comment from India.

State-run Pakistan Television reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has convened a meeting of the National Command Authority, the body responsible for overseeing the country’s missile program and other strategic assets.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have soared since an attack at a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Hindu Indian tourists, on April 22. New Delhi has blamed P akistan for backing the assault, an accusation Islamabad rejects.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir on Friday.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio continued to urge both parties to “find ways to deescalate and offered U.S. assistance in starting constructive talks” in order to avoid future conflicts.

The call for calm came ahead of Saturday's Indian missile strikes, which targeted Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, Murid air base in Chakwal city and Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province, according to Pakistan's military spokesman.

There was no media access to the air base in Rawalpindi, a densely populated city, and no immediate reports of residents hearing or seeing the strike or its aftermath.

Following the announcement of Pakistani retaliation, residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they heard loud explosions at multiple places in the region, including the two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur.

“Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks,” said Shesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former top police official and Jammu resident. “It looks like a war here.”

Vaid said explosions were heard from areas with military bases, adding it appeared that army sites were being targeted.

Srinagar appeared calm early Saturday but some residents in neighborhoods close to the city’s airport, which is also an air base, said they were rattled by the explosions and booming sound of fighter jets.

“I was already awake but the explosions jolted my kids out of their sleep. They started crying,” said Srinagar resident Mohammed Yasin, adding he heard at least two explosions.

Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group for India, said the two countries were at war even if they had not yet labelled it as one.

“It’s become a remorseless race for military one-upmanship with no apparent strategic end goals from either side,” said Donthi. “With increasing civilian casualties on both sides, finding an exit or off-ramp is going to be challenging.”

India’s army said it destroyed multiple armed Pakistani drones that were spotted flying over a military cantonment in northern Punjab state’s Amritsar city early Saturday.

“Pakistan’s blatant attempt to violate India’s sovereignty and endanger civilians is unacceptable.” the statement said.

In Pakistan, the civil aviation authority shut the country's airports for all flight operations and people in major cities were seen chanting slogans supporting the armed forces.

“Thank God we have finally responded to Indian aggression,” said Muhammad Ashraf, who had headed out for breakfast in the eastern city of Lahore.

The Indian army said late Friday that drones were sighted in 26 locations across many areas in Indian states bordering Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir, including Srinagar. It said the drones were tracked and engaged.

“The situation is under close and constant watch, and prompt action is being taken wherever necessary,” the statement added.

India and Pakistan have traded strikes and heavy cross-border fire for days, resulting in civilian casualties on both sides.

The Group of Seven nations, or G7, urged “maximum restraint” from India and Pakistan. It warned Friday that further military escalation posed a serious threat to regional stability.

AP journalist Hussain reported from Srinagar, India. Associated Press writer Rajesh Roy in New Delhi, Babar Dogar in Lahore, Pakistan, Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, contributed to this story.