Caitlin Clark's three-point shooting woes in Fever's season-opening loss to Wings highlight troubling trend

Has Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark lost her three-point shooting touch? 

Clark scored 20 points in the Fever's 107-104 loss to the Dallas Wings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on Saturday. However, the guard shot 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) from three-point range and missed a tying three with 1.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

The cold performance from three may be tied to a lingering back issue. Clark left the game twice and said she needed her back adjusted during a postgame news conference. Even so, her three-point shooting percentage had been declining before this injury. 

Caitlin Clark's three-point shooting struggles against the Wings showcase a troubling trend

The Fever took former Iowa Hawkeyes star Clark with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft because of her seemingly limitless range. During her four-year collegiate career, she shot 37.7 percent from three-point range and made an NCAA Division I women's record 548 three-pointers. 

During her first season with the Fever, that skill translated. She made a rookie record 122 three-pointers and shot 34.4 percent from three. Since then, she's struggled from deep. Over her past 14 games, Clark has shot 27.4 percent from three (via StatMuse). 

Her shot selection may be part of the problem. The guard is a high-volume three-point shooter, meaning she takes many threes, even the ones that basketball purists wouldn't consider good shots. Between the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Clark shot 459 three-point attempts, the ninth most in the WNBA during that span, but she ranked 19th in three-point percentage (32.9 percent).

The issue could be that defenses know Clark likes to shoot from deep. So whenever she's about to launch from three, they contest the shot to make it more difficult. To counter, she must begin finding ways to create space.

To create more room for her three-point shots, Clark must expand her offensive bag. This includes taking more step-backs and forcing opponents to respect her ability to drive to the basket. Nekias Duncan (now with Yahoo Sports) pointed out she needed to improve her mid-range game to become an even better scorer. 

"Developing something in the intermediate area — a floater, a pull-up, or both will turn Clark into a three-level scorer," wrote Duncan for Bleacher Report after Clark's rookie season in 2024. "At that point, I'm not sure what teams would be able to do with her." 

Now, Clark may be hesitant to take it to the hole. During her first two seasons, she was often pushed and leveled when she did so. To counter this, Fever head coach Stephanie White should draw more screens to create pull-up jump shot opportunities for the sharpshooting guard. 

Now, this isn't to say Clark isn't one of the best players in the WNBA, but the three-point shooting woes raise concerns. Her range from downtown was her "superpower" at the beginning of her career. The recent struggles, though, indicate it may be waning, so she must find a way to regain her shooting stroke.