Friday was a huge night at UT Arlington’s College Park Center, as it was the WNBA debut of Indiana Fever star, Caitlin Clark. Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, was taking part in her first professional game, a preseason matchup against the Dallas Wings.
She wasted no time to get going. The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer got off to a hot start, pouring in 11 of the Fever’s first 19 points of the game. It took less than a minute for her to knock down her first 3-pointer.
Caitlin Clark finished the first half with 16 points, including an impressive highlight against WNBA veteran Natasha Howard. A patented stepback 3-pointer was knocked down, and she looked right at home with her new team.
Foul trouble limited the Iowa star to only a few minutes in the third quarter, as Clark went scoreless. But it didn’t take long for her to heat up again, as she knocked down her fifth 3-pointer of the contest and found Aliyah Boston for a nice assist.
In the waning moments of the game, Clark received her first ‘Welcome to the WNBA’ moment. Driving to the basket in a tie game, Howard got some revenge on Clark for her stepback in the first half, blocking the shot attempt.
With 3.0 seconds remaining in the game, it was Wings star Arike Ogunbowale who sent the Dallas fans home happy. She knocked down a stepback 3-pointer of her own to give them a 79-76 lead, which was the final score.
Clark attempted an off-balance shot at the buzzer but was unable to sink it. She finished her first professional game with 21 points, shooting 6-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-13 from 3-point range. She added three rebounds, two assists and two steals, but did also have five turnovers.
Despite that, she still finished the game with a plus/minus ratio of +6. “My biggest goal coming into tonight was to continue to be myself, play aggressive,” Caitlin Clark said. “I thought that’s what I did. I think there’s a lot to be proud of.”
It was a strong debut for Clark, who admitted it will take time to get used to how physical the WNBA is compared to the college game. Cleaning up on turnovers is also a must, as Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides said Clark looked “gassed” at times and asked for a sub near the end of the first quarter.
All in all, it was a great first night for Caitlin Clark, who received a thunderous ovation despite being on the road. That will likely be the case at a lot of Indiana Fever games this season, as she is a bonafide superstar that people want to see play.
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