WASHINGTON — Sika Kone scored a career-high 20 points and the Washington Mystics earned a 92-91 victory over Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Thursday night before a record crowd of 20,711, the largest in WNBA history.
The Mystics (14-26), who led by 16 points entering the fourth quarter, began the regular-season finale with a shot at the final playoff spot, but that hope ended when the Atlanta Dream (15-25) won in New York to secure the eighth seed.
Ariel Atkins and Emily Engstler each scored 17 points for Washington, while Brittney Sykes and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough contributed 12 apiece.
Indiana (20-20) had already clinched the sixth seed and pulled its starters midway through the second half. Clark, the record-setting rookie, had eight points, eight assists and five rebounds in 20 minutes, while Kelsey Mitchell had four points and was pulled after just five minutes. For Clark, it was the first time she was held below double digits in scoring since June 13.
Kristy Wallace led the Fever, who will face No. 3 seed Connecticut in a three-game series beginning Sunday, with 17 points. NaLyssa Smith scored 16 points and Aliyah Boston and Katie Lou Samuelson each scored 10.
The record attendance was made possible by the game being played at Capital One Arena, which is not the Mystics' usual home. Washington plays at the Entertainment & Sports Arena, which has a capacity of 4,200.
Washington shot just 3 of 15 in the fourth quarter, but Indiana, with mostly reserves on the court, missed three shots in the final minute after Wallace scored to make it 92-91 with 1:13 left.
Samuelson missed with 7.7 seconds left and Grace Berger grabbed the offensive rebound but missed a short jumper at the buzzer.
The Fever took a 20-2 lead early in the game as Washington missed its first 10 shots. A three-point play by Kone at the 4:29 mark ended that stretch and Indiana's lead was cut to 24-22 at the end of the quarter.
At halftime, the Mystics led 52-45 as they shot 60% from the field in the second quarter.
Washington started the second half on a 12-4 run and extended the lead to 82-66 after three quarters.
Although the Fever had clinched a playoff spot two weeks earlier, Mitchell played her 233rd regular-season game before entering a playoff game, tying Jia Perkins, who did so before entering a playoff game in 2011.
