PHOENIX -- The Indiana Fever picked up one of their biggest wins of the season — and first over a team with a winning record — 88-82 over the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday afternoon.

Here are 3 observations:

Caitlin Clark comes just shy of triple-double

Of the 36 triple-doubles in the 27-year history of the WNBA, none of them have ever come from a WNBA rookie. Nor has it come from any player in a Fever uniform.

For now, it will stay that way.

Fever rookie Caitlin Clark came up just shy of a triple-double on Sunday afternoon. She was in double-figures in points and assists by the end of the third quarter. All she needed was two rebounds, and she would have had the first triple-double in Fever history.

In nine minutes of play in the fourth quarter, though, Clark could only pick up one rebound. With the Fever holding onto a minimal lead, she subbed out of the game in the final defensive possessions, giving her fewer opportunities to get the final rebound.

Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith dominated the boards for the Fever, finishing with nine and 17, respectively.

Chippy first half

The Fever and the Mercury got chippy in the first half -- and none of it came from notorious competitors Diana Taurasi and Caitlin Clark.

Clark had three technical fouls on the season coming into this game, with all of them being picked up in the first nine games of the season. Taurasi had a league-leading four technical fouls.

More: With 5 technicals in first half, the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury are getting chippy

First, Brittney Griner picked up a technical foul for shoving Aliyah Boston while the two were fighting for positioning during an inbound.

Then, just a couple minutes later, four players got offsetting technical fouls. The two teams huddled close to each other under the basket following a foul, and that led to a shoving match. The Fever's Temi Fagbenle and Erica Wheeler were called for technical fouls, as well as the Mercury's Kahleah Copper and Natasha Cloud.

Finally, NaLyssa Smith picked up a flagrant 1 for hitting Diana Taurasi in the sternum near the end of the first half.

The only upgraded foul in the second half was from Natasha Cloud, who was called for a flagrant 1 for a foul on Katie Lou Samuelson under the basket.

Kelsey Mitchell sits most of first half, comes back strong

Fever veteran Kelsey Mitchell uncharacteristically sat for most of the first half, but it wasn't because of injury.

Mitchell missed a long-range pass from Clark in the first minutes of the game -- the ball slipped past her fingers and hit a Mercury player before going out of bounds.

Still, Mitchell sat down at the 4:49 mark of the first quarter in favor of Erica Wheeler. And Mitchell didn't return for the rest of the first half, with her stat line sitting at 0-for-3 with one personal foul and a +/- of -11.

After sitting for 15 minutes of game time and heading back to the locker room for halftime, Mitchell was finally back out on the floor for the Fever. One of her first plays came on the defensive end, intercepting a pass from Brittney Griner and bringing the ball back down the court.

Mitchell went 3-of-4 in the third quarter, all of them 3-pointers, for nine points. Two of them were assisted by Clark, putting the rookie's assist total into double-digits. Mitchell's +/- catapulted to +3 as the Fever outscored the Mercury, 29-15, in the 10-minute span.

How many points did Caitlin Clark score against the Phoenix Mercury?

Caitlin Clark scored 15 points on 4-of-14 shooting with nine rebounds and 12 assists.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mitchell, Clark lead Fever to 88-82 comeback win over Mercury