Howard, Boston lead Fever to fifth straight win without Clark, 78-74 over Storm

SEATTLE (AP) — Natasha Howard scored 21 points and the Indiana Fever, playing without Caitlin Clark for a seventh straight game, beat the Seattle Storm 78-74 on Sunday to extend their winning streak to five.

Aliyah Boston had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Her run of nine straight Indiana points in the middle of the fourth quarter put the Fever up 73-61 with 4:41 to play.

The Storm charged back, pulling within 73-72 on a three-point play by Skylar Diggins with 3:14 to go. Kelsey Mitchell made a short jumper for Indiana before the Storm missed their next five shots, including four 3-pointers on one possession before Dominique Malonga scored inside with 12.2 seconds left.

On the ensuing inbounds play, Lexie Hull got the ball to Mitchell for a layup with 8.1 to go and the Storm couldn’t hit a tying 3 before Boston’s free throw.

Sophie Cunningham added 17 points for the Fever (17-12), who are now 9-7 in games Clark missed.

Nneka Ogwumike scored 16 points for the Storm (16-13), who dropped their second straight at home. Diggins added 13 points and Gabby Williams and Malonga both had 12. Seattle lost to Los Angeles 108-106 in two overtimes on Friday night.

Indiana led 19-16 after one quarter and had an 8-0 surge late in the second to lead by 10 before Seattle scored to make it 42-34 at the half.

The Fever went up 55-42 on Cunningham’s 3-pointer midway through the third quarter but the Storm closed on a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 58-54 entering the fourth. Indiana didn’t have a field goal over the last 4 1/2 minutes.

Olympic gold medal gymnast Jordan Chiles was courtside for the game, which drew 16,819 fans.

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