Coming into this season, Caitlin Clark walked in ready to lead. “I think for myself, going into Year 2,  just being a good leader is my main goal,” she’d said. And if one were to grade her leadership, she’s rocking a solid 10/10, for Henri Fayol at least. According to his second principle, “Both authority and responsibility must be balanced.” And that’s what Caitlin Clark has been giving us all season long. A balance that even seasoned vets fail to strike.

After the Fever fell to the Aces yesterday, with a total of 8 points, Caitlin Clark stepped up and took full responsibility. It was a night where she managed to bag a total of 19 points, 10 assists, and 3 rebounds while going 1 of 10 from three-point range and 7 of 20 from the field. Those are average stats, but they tell of a cold shooting night. Aliyah Boston, though, carried the team on her back, dropping 26, and Kelsey Mitchell also added 20. Their offense wasn’t bad; it was the little things. “I think the little things, we’ve kind of just shot ourselves in the leg consistently doing that,” Clark explained.

In the postgame presser, Clark added, “We turn the ball over, we foul a lot. You know, those are just easy points for them.” She wasn’t wrong. Caitlin Clark’s turnover with just 4:16 left in the 4th led directly to Jackie Young making a layup. Just earlier, Natasha Howard’s foul at 6:31 in the 3rd gave A’ja Wilson an easy bucket and free throw. These are two of the many examples of Fever’s plays that turned into Vegas’ points.

“I don’t know how many points they had at the free throw line tonight, but I think they had 18 off of our turnovers,” she added. Her guess here wasn’t far off. However, the Aces scored 28 points off of Fever’s 18 turnovers. Indiana held a 61-58 edge heading into the fourth, but foul trouble and sloppy turnovers opened the door for a Las Vegas rally. The Aces pounced, outscoring the Fever by 11 in the final quarter to seal the deal. Clark herself gave away 8 turnovers, but the major damage came from those two during a crucial fourth quarter. Caitlin Clark put it out there clearly: “Especially in the fourth quarter, we didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball — I didn’t — so I think it just starts with me and just getting better at that.”

Now, if you have been following CC since her NCAA days, this responsible behavior shouldn’t come off as surprising. It’s what she has grown into. Coach Lisa Bluder planted those seeds early, in her freshman year. “I would have her read some leadership books and we would kind of go through the chapters and talk about them afterwards: ‘What did you learn from this?” she once said.

And honestly, Clark seems to have learned a lot from this loss that she thinks is much different than the Golden State loss. While her shots didn’t fall, she made it clear to never stop impacting the overall game and to keep drawing attention beyond the perimeter to open the floor for others. “Certainly it was a tough shooting night,” she said. “I got to find a way to continue to shoot and remain confident in myself because I know I’ve put the time in. I don’t feel like it’s anything that’s off necessarily, but yeah, it would’ve been nice if they went down.”

Clearly, she’s not getting hung up on one thing and ignoring the rest. As she said, she will find a way, and till then, you will find her impacting the offense in other ways.

Caitlin Clark, Fever stumble in Vegas, and so do the refs

Caitlin Clark had another rough game on Sunday, her second straight underwhelming performance. But in classic WNBA fashion, the game wasn’t just decided by missed shots or defensive mistakes. Rather, questionable officiating once again stole the spotlight. Late in the fourth quarter, when the Fever was down just five and less than a minute was left, Indiana was about to get a crucial stop that could have made it a one-possession game.

That was until Jackie Young clearly set a moving screen on Aliyah Boston. It should have been an offensive foul and a turnover for the Aces. But instead, the refs called a defensive foul on Boston. Fever head coach Stephanie White instantly challenged it, sure the replay would have shown the obvious mistake. But the officials stuck with the call, ignoring what everyone else could see was a terrible decision.

The consequences of that move were immediate and painful. Young hit both free throws. That simply stretched the Aces’ lead to seven. Caitlin Clark answered with two free throws of her own, but by then, it was too late. The Fever had already run out of time. Sure, A’ja Wilson’s dominant second half and Indiana’s own 16-2 slump were big reasons they lost. But that awful call killed any shot at a late Fever comeback.

And, sadly, this isn’t new for the Fever, especially Caitlin Clark, who has been on the wrong end of bad calls all season. Stephanie White leaves almost every lost game questioning the officiating; it’s wild. As for what might have happened if the call had gone the right way? We’ll never know. What we do know is that Clark and the Fever have to shake it off fast. Because they have got the Seattle Storm on Tuesday, who beat this very Aces just recently.