Caitlin Clark Injury: Is Fever Guard Playing at Iowa on Sunday?

Clark appeared to be fine during Indiana's warm ups on Saturday, but she revealed she was feeling "a little tightness" in her left leg when she talked to reporters ahead of tip-off against the Mystics.

She was ruled out officially by the team less than 10 minutes before the game's scheduled 1 p.m. ET start time, a disappointing last-minute development for the 12,461 fans in attendance at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Head coach Stephanie White emphasized that the Fever are keeping a big-picture approach to Clark's health, ahead of the expanded 44-game WNBA regular season this year.

"The biggest thing is we have to think long-term," White explained before the game. "We have to make sure we're not putting Caitlin at risk for injury, we're not putting our team in a position where we're thinking short-term."

White's comments provided hope that Clark's absence on Saturday was a cautious decision allowing her to get more minutes on Sunday in Iowa, but the team has not given an official availability update on Clark as of 11 a.m. ET Sunday morning.

While she was sidelined, Clark made a positive impression on her teammates, coaching up the point guards, cracking jokes and even jumping up from the bench a few times despite her injured leg.

"I felt at one point (Clark) wanted to go back and put on her uniform," White said after the game. 

The coach said her star guard had made a lot of progress in terms of her health ahead of the return to Iowa, which was the team's goal — one shared by a legion of fans in the Hawkeye State.

"Hopefully she'll be ready tomorrow," White said.