The Indiana Fever’s season ended in October when the Las Vegas Aces beat them 94-83 in Game 3 to close out a 2-1 first-round series victory. Caitlin Clark had averaged 22.3 points and 8.3 assists during the regular season to cap off a franchise-best 28 regular-season wins for Indiana.

Now the Fever star has named the Aces’ A’ja Wilson as the toughest player in the WNBA to guard. Clark made the pick during Tuesday’s episode of Kylie Kelce’s “Not Gonna Lie” podcast and used the playoff series to make her case.

Caitlin Clark Ties Her A’ja Wilson Pick to Indiana’s Playoff Loss

Asked to name the hardest players to guard in the WNBA, Clark went with Wilson and began by discussing the matchup problems the Las Vegas superstar creates.

Wilson won a record fifth MVP award this season, her third straight, while the Aces finished the regular season 31-13.

“In the W, definitely A’ja. I think that would probably be everybody’s answer. Like, just so difficult. Just her size, her physicality, her athleticism,” Clark said.

The Fever star then moved to the ways Wilson can score: “She can make midrange jump shots super consistently. She can stretch the floor when she wants to, and she can finish around the rim really well.”

Clark linked her pick directly to how Indiana’s season ended, noting, “that’s who we lost to this year in the first round… When you let a player like that see the first couple baskets go in, it’s like, ‘Ah, it’s going to be a long night, like you’re going to have 30.'”

Clark pointed to Game 2 in Indianapolis as the exception: “So that’s what we did well in Game 2, the game that we won, like we made it difficult on her from the start.”

Wilson finished the Fever’s 99-89 win with 22 points on 5-for-11 shooting, committing 4 turnovers in 34 minutes, and 12 of her points came at the free-throw line.

Clark was just as candid about the other two games, saying, “Then in Game 1 and Game 3, she kind of just had her way, and it was what it was. You know, it’s usually she’s going to get what she gets, and you kind of have to try to limit everybody else.”

Wilson cleared 30 points in both of the Aces’ wins against the Fever. She had 38 points on 15-for-19 shooting with 16 rebounds and 4 blocks in a 102-85 Game 1 win, when Las Vegas led by as many as 27.

In the clincher, the three-time champion poured in 36 points on 11-for-18 shooting, knocking down 12 of 15 free throws.

The Aces’ own run ended a round later as the Golden State Valkyries swept them in the semifinals and went on to beat Angel Reese’s Atlanta Dream to capture the championship.

Clark, meanwhile, also made room for a teammate in her answer:

“And then, I honestly see this answer a lot from a lot of other players in the league. People think that my teammate Kelsey Mitchell is one of the hardest players in the league to guard just because of her speed and the way she finishes around the rim and shoots the ball… But I would say for us, like our team, like definitely A’ja.”

The Fever had designated Mitchell their core player in April and signed her to a one-year supermax deal. Sophie Cunningham, who came back on a one-year deal that same month, is also among this offseason’s free agents.

Those crucial decisions involving Mitchell and Cunningham will run through a reshaped front office after Indiana parted ways with general manager Amber Cox last month, hours after team president Kelly Krauskopf stepped down.