The hosts vaulted into a 26-15 lead after the first quarter and increased that to 55-35 at half-time as Fever’s defence offered little resistance.
Dijonai Carrington led the charge with 22 points, with DeWanna Bonner adding a further 17 as Connecticut saw out a comfortable victory.
“I’m going to start with how you can’t, at this level, coach effort,” Sides said in her post-game press conference. “I felt like we were just trying to ask them to keep playing hard, play hard.
Brutal 8 foot airball by Caitlin Clark. Absolutely has to develop a mid range game. Needs a floater and a pull-up jumper for when she is ran off the three point line. One dimensional player at this point. pic.twitter.com/DX3N6o7hWh
— Freddy Ruger (@FreddyRuger10) June 11, 2024
Indiana only lost the third quarter by a narrow margin and then won the fourth 16-9 to reduce the final deficit to 17 points.
“We were down 28 and I wanted to put a group in there that would get out and play some defence.” Sides said. “I’m really, really proud of that group that went out there and cut the lead.
“They played hard. We’ve got Atlanta coming up. We’ve got Chicago coming up. Just thinking ahead.”
Indiana welcome Atlanta Dream to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday, while Connecticut travel to take on Chicago Sky on Wednesday.