One may argue that even though Caitlin Clark was off the court on Wednesday, it made a case that she is the Most Valuable Player in the WNBA.

That's because in the Indiana Fever's first game without Clark since she suffered a quad injury, the Fever suffered their worst loss of the young WNBA season.

The Washington Mystics took down the Clark-less Fever, 83-77, on Wednesday night.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

The Fever started out hot, getting out to a 10-4 lead, and even leading by five at a point during the second quarter.

But from 5:47 left in the second until 5:03 left in regulation, the Mystics outscored the Fever, 46-32. Their 11-point lead (73-62) was their largest of the night until garbage time free throws with under a minute left.

Indiana scored seven points in the final 22 seconds to avoid a double-digit loss, but the majority of the final 25 minutes were all Mystics.

ANGEL REESE 'NOT THE VILLAIN' IN CAITLIN CLARK NARRATIVE, JEMELE HILL SAYS AMID GROWING WNBA RIVALRY

The Fever's previous two losses this season came by a combined three points - they lost by one to the Atlanta Dream and by two to the reigning champion New York Liberty. The Fever had the ball in the final seconds in both of those contests.

Their 77 points are the lowest they've scored all season, as well. They had previously scored 93, 90, 81, and 88.

Clark is slated to miss at least two weeks with a right quad injury. In their first four games, the Fever's point differential was +37.

The former Iowa Hawkeye is averaging 19.0 points, 9.3 assists and 6.0 rebounds in her four games of the 2025 season. Last year, she set the single-season record for the most assists in one year, en route to winning Rookie of the Year. Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell tied with a team-high four assists on the night. The Fever as a whole had just 15 on the night – Clark had a WNBA record 19 on July 17 of last year.

DeWanna Bonner dropped 21 points off the bench, leading the Fever.

Clark netted a season-high 27 points last Tuesday against the Dream. She dropped 20-plus points in each of her first two games before settling for just 11 on Thursday and then 18 on Saturday against the Liberty.

Fox News' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is facing a Department of Justice investigation over his state's laws allowing transgender athletes in girls sports.

The DOJ announced the investigation Wednesday, one day after President Donald Trump threatened to pull funding from the state for allowing a trans athlete to compete in a girls track and field championship. 

Bonta's office responded to the recent pressure on him and the state of California over the issue in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

"We remain committed to defending and upholding California laws and all additional laws which ensure the rights of students, including transgender students, to be free from discrimination and harassment. We will continue to closely monitor the Trump administration’s actions in this space," the statement said. 

The DOJ's announcement of its investigation against the state cited a lawsuit that includes Bonta as a defendant. The lawsuit, filed by the families of two girls at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, alleges the school's cross-country team dropped one athlete from her varsity spot in favor of a trans athlete and that school administrators compared their "Save Girls Sports" T-shirts to swastikas, Fox News Digital has previously reported. 

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

The suit, filed in November, seeks to challenge the state's current law that allows trans athletes to compete as girls, which has been in place since 2014. The lawsuit expanded a defendant list to include Bonta Feb. 1. 

Just days later, after Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order Feb. 5, the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) for openly defying the order. 

Now, the tension in the state figures to come to a head this weekend at the girls track and field state championship. 

The CIF has already made several rule changes that accommodate girls who would be displaced by the trans athlete, AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High School. The changes include giving medals to any "biological female" competitors who would have earned a podium spot if not for Hernandez placing ahead of them. 

Still, many families and activists are speaking out against the CIF for allowing the situation to continue at all, and the Trump administration has given no indication the rule changes will satisfy its demands on the issue. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.