Caitlin Clark may be the face of the Indiana Fever when it comes to dominating headlines, but the Fever are more than a one-woman show for Sabrina Merchant. From Kelsey Mitchell to Aliah Boston, many players have stepped up when it mattered for the team, especially when Clark missed the majority of the 2025 season due to a groin injury. After Sunday’s blowout victory against the Aces, the analyst is taking another look.

“I don’t know who the most important player on the Indiana Fever is,” Merchant said on Tuesday’s episode of the No Offseason podcast.

“I don’t know who the best player on the Indiana Fever is. Because Kelsey Mitchell is also making a great case for that with how well she’s been playing. But when you have all three of them working, and then you get the six threes from Sophie Cunningham, it makes sense to me why this team was in our contender list at the start of the season. Because the offensive talent is obscene.”

That Aces game ended in a commanding 109-75 victory, and Caitlin Clark did not even play the full game. Still easing back from injury, coach Stephanie White was carefully managing and limiting her minutes. Despite that, Clark still closed out the night with 12 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. And she made history as the fastest WNBA player ever to reach 600 career assists.

Meanwhile, Kelsey Mitchell contributed 27 points alongside three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Aliyah Boston, who drew particular praise from Merchant, notched 19 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. And Sophie Cunningham came off the bench and promptly buried six three-pointers, finishing with 20 points in one of the most efficient individual shooting displays of her career.

That being said, they’ve hit some significant bumps earlier in the season: injuries, inconsistency, the noise of off-court controversy. While the win over the Aces was a big confidence booster, for Carpenter’s co-host Annie Costabile, these performances need to happen more consistently.

“That’s the team we expected them to be in the preseason when we were talking about them being a contender,” Costabile said.

“Now, we haven’t seen that consistently. And I think that’s the biggest question for them, is this a mark of what’s to come? Or are we going to continue to see some inconsistency from them?”

Nobody can say with certainty whether this Caitlin Clark-led group will sustain this level of performance from here. But if they do, the blowout win against the Aces turns out to be the beginning of a run that may see them finally fulfilling their pre-season expectations as a top WNBA Championship contender.