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WNBA Announces Caitlin Clark's First Game Of The 2025 Season

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Dec 2, 2024 3:07 PM ET

The WNBA revealed its 2025 schedule on Monday. Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will open their season with a marquee matchup that the league hopes will blossom into the sport's biggest rivalry.

In her first year, Clark helped the Fever snap a seven-year playoff drought. While the Connecticut Sun quickly ousted them from the first round, they'll look to notch their first winning season since 2015 behind the All-WNBA point guard.

The WNBA booked what should be a highly popular game to commence Indiana's season. On May 17, the Fever will host Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The 2025 season begins with three games on May 16. After falling painfully sort of a championship, the Minnesota Lynx will begin their climb to the top by facing a Dallas Wings squad expected to draft Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 pick next April. The Washington Mystics will host the Atlanta Dream, and the Golden State Valkyries will make their WNBA debut against the Los Angeles Sparks.

Clark and Reese will then lead off a star-studded tripleheader in a game starting at 1 p.m. ET. Both rookies can continue this year's ascent to stardom.

After seizing the NCAA's all-time leading scoring record, Clark ran away with WNBA Rookie of the Year. The No. 1 pick led the league with 337 assists and 122 three-pointers, both single-season rookie records. Clark finished fourth in the MVP voting with 19.2 points per game.

Meanwhile, Reese topped the WNBA leaderboard with 13.1 rebounds per game and set the league record with 15 straight double-doubles. Her season ended early due to a wrist injury.

In arguably the highlight of her inaugural year, Reese led Chicago to a comeback win over Indiana on June 23 with 25 points and 16 boards. However, the Fever won the other three meetings, with Clark averaging 20.5 points, 10.0 assists, and 6.5 rebounds against the Sky.

With the 2025 season stretching from 40 to 44 games, the WNBA used the extended schedule to book an extra fifth game between the Fever and Sky. Their second meeting will be a Commissioner's Cup matchup on June 7.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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