Caitlin Clark (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Caitlin Clark made unfortunate history in her regular-season WNBA debut on Tuesday night.
Clark, the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever last month, was unable to inspire her new team to her win and caught a 92-71 loss in her first game, with the Connecticut Sun’s pesky defense making things hard for the two-time national college player of the year and her teammates.
The former Iowa star led the Fever in scoring and was the joint top scorer of the night, with her and Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner scoring 20 points. And she had to work for every point she got.
“There’s a lot to learn from; it’s the first one,” she told reporters after the game, per NBC. “There’s going to be good ones, there’s going to be bad ones.”
Clark, who shot 5-for-15 from the field and 4-for-11 from three, committed 10 turnovers. While her 20 points were the second-most for a player making her debut – behind Tamkia Catchings’ 23 – her 10 turnovers were the most for a first-year player since Betty Lennox made 11 on August 9, 2000, according to Across the Timeline.
“Obviously too many turnovers — that’s not going to get the job done,” Clark admitted. “There’s a lot of things to learn from.
“I would have liked to have played a little better tonight.”
Diana Taurasi’s Warning Started Doing The Rounds After Caitlin Clark’s Debut
Unfortunately for Caitlin Clark, Diana Taurasi’s warning will make the rounds every time she has a bad game.
“You look superhuman playing against some 18 years olds but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time,” Taurasi said to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt a few weeks ago.
Clark and the Fever will play the New York Liberty at home on Thursday night and will hope to go 1-1 in the rookie’s second game.