Caitlin Clark's kryptonite is now obvious (and completely unexpected)

The Indiana Fever suffered another frustrating loss on Wednesday night, falling 80-61 to the Golden State Valkyries in a game that felt like a step back following some impressive performances in the wake of Caitlin Clark's absence.

Clark returned to the lineup after missing time again with a groin injury, but her presence wasn’t enough to spark a struggling offense that was downright hard to watch at times.

It was Clark’s second loss of the season to the Valkyries, and the sixth of her WNBA career to a familiar face. Her former Iowa teammate, Kate Martin, has quietly emerged as a consistent contributor for Golden State, and, somehow, her teams keep beating Clark’s.

The optics are interesting here. Martin, a former unheralded second-round pick, is now 6-0 against her superstar college counterpart. The irony shouldn't be lost on anyone. In a league where the spotlight rarely shifts away from Clark, it’s her old running mate who keeps ending up on the winning side.

Kate Martin has become Caitlin Clark's surprising kryptonite

The 18th overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Martin wasn’t expected to become a key contributor so quickly, but she carved out a role with the Las Vegas Aces as a steady rotational guard.

She parlayed her success in Las Vegas into the No. 6 overall pick by the Golden State Valkyries in this year’s expansion draft. Since then, she’s quietly helped the league’s newest team become one of its most balanced, and she’s continued her quiet dominance over her former college teammate along the way.

Martin is now 6-0 in her WNBA career against Clark. Two of those wins came this season with Golden State, while four came last year with the Aces (though she didn’t appear in two of those games).

In the four games she’s played against Indiana, Martin is shooting 47.4% from the field, her best mark against any team in the league. She dropped 9 points and 5 rebounds on 4-of-7 shooting in their first meeting with the Fever this season, and back in 2024 as a rookie with Vegas, she had 12 points and 7 boards in a 99-80 win over Indiana.

Clark, meanwhile, has struggled in each of the four games she's played against Martin. She’s a combined 13-of-46 (28%) shooting against Martin’s teams and has averaged nearly twice as many turnovers (6 per game) as made field goals (3.3).

Her return from injury on Wednesday didn’t change that. Clark finished with just 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, and the Fever offense sputtered to just 61 points total, their second-lowest of the season.

Of course, it’s a team game. Martin isn’t single-handedly causing Clark’s struggles. But considering the two started 139 consecutive games together in Iowa’s backcourt, the longest streak in Division I over the last 25 years, it’s safe to say few saw this coming.

Clark was the generational prospect. Martin has become her surprising WNBA foil.

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