Natasha Cloud’s steal preserves win as Liberty beat Fever, 90-88

INDIANAPOLIS — Natasha Cloud’s fifth and final steal Saturday against Indiana Fever was the biggest. The Philly-area native stripped the ball away from Caitlin Clark on the final play of the game to preserve a 90-88 win for the New York Liberty on Saturday.

Cloud, who’s from Broomall and graduated from Cardinal O’Hara and St. Joseph’s, also finished with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists, and two blocks.

Jonquel Jones had 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Sabrina Ionescu added 23 points, including the winning free throws with 2.9 seconds left.

Clark, who ended a stretch of 12 missed three-pointers with a four-point play followed by a 33-foot buzzer-beater to end the third quarter, finished with 18 points, 10 assists, and 10 turnovers, and shot 2-for-11 from three.

Breanna Stewart added 16 points for the Liberty (3-0).

» READ MORE: Dawn Staley again advocates for the WNBA in Philly, but not to be the coach: ‘I want ownership’

Aliyah Boston led Indiana (2-2) with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Lexie Hull, starting in place of DeWanna Bonner, and Kelsey Mitchell added 15 points each.

Clark’s turnovers were scattered between precise feeds to the rim to her teammates, including Boston, who bounced back from a four-point performance in a win over the Atlanta Dream on Thursday.

The Fever had an 80-68 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the game. It was an impressive midgame run for the newly formed Fever against the reigning WNBA champs; they’d stormed back from down 14 early in the second quarter.

But the Liberty’s experience showed up when it mattered. Jones, Stewart and Ionescu brought them quickly back into the game. They went on a 14-2 run for an 84-82 lead after Jones drained consecutive three-pointers.

» READ MORE: Diane Richardson and Yolanda Laney give New York’s WNBA title some Philly flavor

Clark said after the game she’d have to look at the tape to tell whether she was fouled on the final play. Coach Stephanie White, however, wasn’t as neutral.

“I think it’s pretty egregious what’s been happening to us the last four games, you know, a minus-31 free-throw discrepancy,” White said. “And I might be able to understand it if we were just chucking threes. But we’re not. We’re attacking the rim, and the disrespect right now for our team has been pretty unbelievable.”

The Liberty head home to play a pair of games against expansion Golden State on Tuesday and Thursday. Indiana is at Washington on Wednesday.