Caitlin Clark had an unusual vantage point much of Monday night’s Indiana Fever loss to the Connecticut Sun. She was on the bench for the final 14+ minutes.

Fever coach Christie Sides said postgame that she “can’t coach effort,” prompting her to bench Clark and three other starters midway through the third quarter.

Clark played just shy of 22 minutes, the fewest by more than 5 minutes in her 13 WNBA games.

What did Caitlin Clark say about being benched?

“I think we just went with the bench group that was, honestly, pretty solid when they came in. There was no conversation or anything.”

Backcourt reserves Lexie Hull (10 points, 4 rebounds) and Erica Wheeler (9 points, 4 assists) made the most of their opportunity.

“I think (the message) was, ‘You can’t coach effort.’ (The Sun are) a team (against which) you can’t come out and be lackadaisical. They are just that good. They’re going to punch you in the mouth. I think we just didn’t have it from the jump, and obviously that was a little disappointing, but that’s something they can’t coach.”

The Fever led briefly in the first couple of minutes before the Sun took the lead for good. Connecticut led 26-15 after the first quarter.

“Like coach said, I thought we should have played with a lot better energy. I thought we let little things at the offensive end frustrate us, and we didn’t play good defense. It seemed like everything they got was easy.”

Connecticut held a 41-26 rebounding edge and assisted on 22 of its 30 baskets.

The Fever’s three most recent opponents have assisted on 75% of their baskets. Their past four opponents have averaged an 11-rebound advantage.

How many points did Caitlin Clark score?

Caitlin Clark scores 10 points in 22 minutes, hitting 3-of-8 shots, 2-of-5 3-pointers, and 2-of-2 free throws. He also has 2 assists and 3 turnovers.