Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut got off to a bit of a rocky start before she seemed to find her rhythm, finishing her first regular-season professional basketball game with 20 points on 5 of 15 shooting in the Fever’s 92-71 loss to the Connecticut Sun.
The highly anticipated debut of Clark on Tuesday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut was a massive night for the WNBA, which is trying to leverage her stardom into a new batch of fans who followed the No. 1 overall pick during her four years in college at Iowa.
But the game didn’t start off as well as Clark would have liked, as she didn’t put up her first points until late in the first half.
She bounced back in the second half, scoring 13 more points as the 22-year-old appeared to get more comfortable.
“I think obviously I’m disappointed and nobody likes to lose — that’s how it is — but I don’t think you can beat yourself up too much about one game,” Clark told reporters. “Just learn from it and move on and I guess I’m just excited for Thursday to get back home and have our home opener. I thought it took me a while to settle into the game. I thought the second half was a lot better minus some of the turnovers, but just getting more comfortable.
“That’s just going to come with experience and getting to play with these girls and the more games I play the more comfortable I’m going to get.”
Caitlin Clark struggled in the first half of her WNBA debut for the Fever. Getty ImagesClark finished shooting 4 of 11 from 3-point range but turned over the ball 10 times in the loss.
Clark — who was covered extensively by Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington and not given many chances at uncontested shots — only had three assists on Tuesday night.
She was visibly upset as she left the court at halftime, as ESPN cameras caught teammate Aliyah Boston talking with Clark as they walked toward the locker room.
But Clark then hit three of her four total 3s in the second half.
The Fever superstar missed her first four shots of the contest before she finally scored her first WNBA basket with 5:25 left in the second quarter when she drove to the hoop.
Caitlin Clark gets blocked by Connecticut Sun guard Rachel Banham. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Caitlin Clark scores the first basket of her WNBA career. APClark, who looked a bit more like herself late in the second quarter, hit a signature 3-pointer with 29.9 seconds remaining on the clock that served as her first official WNBA trey to pull the Fever to within nine of the Sun.
Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever dribbles the ball against Astou Ndour-Fall #45 and DiJonai Carrington #21 of the Connecticut Sun in the game at Mohegan Sun Arena on May 14, 2024 in Uncasville, Connecticut. Getty ImagesAll eyes were on Clark on Tuesday as she played in the first official professional basketball game of her career after a historic run in college at Iowa.
Clark said after the game that she would have liked to play better, but didn’t feel much pressure going into Tuesday’s season opener.
“I was trying to just do whatever I can to help the team and help us win,” Clark, who was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, said.
“Like I said you just go back to the drawing board and you got to learn from it. I’m sure we’re excited to play on Thursday.”
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) puts up a 3-point shot to score against the Connecticut Sun during the fourth quarter of a WNBA basketball game, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. APClark was given a loud ovation from the crowd when her name was called during Indiana’s player introduction and signs throughout the arena bore Clark’s name on them.
Tuesday night’s game was sold out and was the first time since the Sun’s inaugural season that they sold out their season opener.
The Fever host their home opener on Thursday against the Liberty.
