INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White said Monday that All-Star guard Caitlin Clark is progressing from an injured right groin but still is not practicing.
Clark has not played since suffering the injury in the final minute of an 85-77 victory over Connecticut on July 15. Team officials have already ruled her out of Tuesday’s matchup against rookie Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings.
There’s still no timetable for when one of the league’s most popular players could return.
“No return to practice, she’s been able to get a little bit more of her full-court running with all of her body weight,” White said following practice. “It’s really building up from doing minimal to building some endurance to do longer periods of time. She’s been able to do a little more on the court in terms of how she moves, but not into practice shape.”
Clark began full-court running last week.
Three different muscle injuries have forced Clark to miss 19 of 32 games. Indiana is 10-9 without Clark including a 6-2 mark over its last eight games — despite losing two more guards, Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald, with season-ending injuries.
Colson suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during last week’s loss at Phoenix. McDonald will be out with a broken bone in her right foot, which happened in the same game.
Yet with only nine active players and no true point guards, Indiana still managed to rout the rival Chicago Sky 92-70 on Saturday.
The Fever signed Odyssey Sims to a hardship contract Sunday. Sims averaged 11.2 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds during her 11-year career, which included an All-Star selection in 2019.
Clark, last season’s WNBA Rookie of the Year, was averaging 16.5 points, 8.8 assists and 5.0 rebounds before her latest injury.
The Fever went all-in on putting a title-winning supporting cast around Clark during the offseason. And even with Clark out, Indiana is 18-14 and fifth in the league standings, close enough to still be in the mix for home-court advantage in the first round.
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