2024-08-19 13:05:02
INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark is a certified fan of Lexie Hull. Just minutes after Indiana’s 92-75 win over the Seattle Storm on Sunday, Clark, who has become close with Hull since she joined the team, posted on X: “This is now a Lexie Hull fan account.”
“My whole account will be about Lexie,” Clark joked postgame. “I’m going to change my bio to Lexie Hull Fan Page.”
Her declaration was following a trend — a lot of Fever fans likely became fans of Lexie Hull, too, after her career night gave the Fever their first win of the season over the Storm.
Fever match last year’s wins total…with 12 games left in 2024 season.
More:Why Caitlin Clark wants to thank ref for giving her technical foul
So far, Hull has had an up-and-down season. She was a full-time starter for the Fever in 2023, starting nearly every game and playing through a broken nose before she suffered a shoulder injury in August, keeping her out of the final month of the season.
This year, with the Fever adding Clark and wing Katie Lou Samuelson to the starting lineup, Hull transitioned to come off the bench this season. She struggled with confidence in her shot, especially coming off a shoulder injury, and sat on the bench for full games with multiple that were a DNP-Coach’s Decision. Before Sunday’s game, she was shooting 17-of-62 (27%) on the season.
But it was only a matter of time before she found her shot again. She worked her way back into the rotation with her defensive prowess, always taking the most difficult defensive assignment.
On Sunday, it all clicked.
Hull came off the bench and made an immediate impact, catching a ball from Clark in transition and laying it in for an easy basket. The duo did it again four minutes of game time later, giving Clark her second assist of the game — and the WNBA rookie assist record.
Hull’s game didn’t stop there — she hadn’t even made a 3-pointer yet. Her two 3s in the first half marked just the fifth time in her 77-game career she had two or more treys in a game.
Then, she came alive in the fourth quarter. She made 3s on consecutive possessions with eight minutes left in the game, and the sold out Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd got rowdier each time. Four minutes later, she made two more 3s in quick succession — achieving a new career high of 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting (6-of-7 from 3), putting the Fever up by 12, and getting fans on their feet.
“We had just really good ball movement,” Hull said. “Found the open person, got to our open spots, and knocked down shots … the ball just kept going in. So, I mean, we feed off of that, feed off of each other, and was just a fun end of that game.”
She was wide open for most of those shots, too. The Storm focused on the Fever’s usual best 3-point shooters, Kelsey Mitchell (who went 5-of-8 from 3-point range) and Caitlin Clark (3-of-10), giving Hull ample space to catch fire.
“She had everybody fired up,” coach Christie Sides said. “Everybody. I mean, Lexie Hull puts in the work, you know, she just needed to see the ball go in the hole. And once she found that, and she caught fire. And then we started looking for her. And, you know, we’ve got players out there that just draw so much attention. I mean, she was shooting some wide open 3s, and she put it in for us. So proud of her.”
It was even more special for Hull as some of her loved ones, including her twin sister and grandma, traveled to see Hull play Sunday. Hull and her sister, Lacie, both played at Stanford from 2018-22, but Lacie didn’t pursue a basketball career beyond her collegiate years.
More:Indiana Fever even surprised Lexie Hull by drafting her. She’s out to prove them right.
Now, Lacie lives in Austin, Texas, while their grandmother still lives in their hometown of Spokane, Wash. To have a game like that, with family sitting courtside, made Hull’s career game a magical experience.
“First of all, to get a win in front of anyone, it’s great,” Hull said. “To win in front of my grandma, who came all the way here from Spokane…”
“Shout out Cheryl,” Clark interjected.
“Shout out Cheryl,” Hull agreed, laughing. “And my sister came from Austin, it’s amazing. To have them courtside was super cool, too, so really good, really good feeling tonight.”
Maybe, for superstitious reasons, they’ll need to sit courtside for the rest of the season.”
“We might have to,” Hull joked. “… We’ll work on that.”
Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.
