Stephanie White on Caitin Clark injury, Fever surge: ‘We don’t like it but sometimes it’s a blessing in disguise’

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White wants Caitlin Clark back on the court as soon as possible. But as long as Clark remains sidelines with a right groin injury, White hopes it can continue to be a “blessing in disguise” for the other players on the roster.

The Fever are in the midst of five-game winning streak despite the fact that Clark has not played in any of the past seven games. Following a 78-74 victory against the Seattle Storm on Sunday, White gave praise to the rest of the team for learning to play together in the absence of their star.

“I think it says a lot about this group,” she said. “You know we’ve got a deep team. …I think I said it early when C[lark] was out the very first time, while we don’t like it, sometimes it can be a blessing in disguise, because everybody else finds themselves. And no one is afraid to make the big play, offensively or defensively.

“We’ve got a really good group, that’s unselfish. That want to win. That play well together and for each other and when one person doesn’t have it, somebody else does. And I think it makes us really, really difficult to scout when that happens.”

Even more impressive, Indiana managed to pull off the victory against the Storm despite Kelsey Mitchell shooting just 3-of-16 from the floor and scoring only nine points. It was the trio of Natasha Howard, Aliyah Boston and Sophie Cunningham who stepped up to lead the team.

Boston finished with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Howard had a team-high 21 points. Cunningham was lethal from long distance, hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers to finish with 17 points.

White pointed out that the blend of veteran player like Mitchell and Howard along with young players such as Boston and Aari McDonald coming into their own has been fun to watch. Of course it would be ideal if Clark were healthy too, but having her off the court is what has allowed some of that growth in part.

The Fever continue to climb the standings, sitting in fifth place currently and only 1.5 games out of second. That should give them a shot to finish with one of the top seeds in the playoffs once Clark finally does make her return.

At this point, Stephanie White said Caitlin Clark is still without a timetable for return, making her likely to miss her eighth straight game when the Fever play the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday. The rest of the Indiana players will look to continue holding down the fort without her as other players on the roster get their time to shine.