What’s next for Caitlin Clark after a historic rookie season?
Caitlin Clark has broken countless WNBA records and still has high goals to set after the playoffs in her second season.
Sportpuls
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Like Caitlin Clark, so is Indiana fever, and that was true during a remarkable regular season filled with rookie joy, uplifting accomplishments and unexpected triumphs.
That was true on Sunday afternoon, as the harsh reality of the WNBA postseason hit the Fever starting lineup, which had never played in the playoffs a second time before taking the court for Game 1 against the formidable and experienced Connecticut Sun.
Clark started the day off fabulously, finishing fourth in the WNBA Most Valuable Player voting, an award deservedly and unanimously won by Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson. Clark also received three awards from the Associated Press: Rookie of the Year (unanimous); All-WNBA First Team and All-Rookie Team.
So the morning was great for Clark. The afternoon, however, not so much.
In a 93-69 loss to the Sun, Clark suffered a black eye, both literally and figuratively. She was poked in the right eye by the Sun’s DiJonai Carrington in the first 90 seconds of the game and ended up with quite the black eye. It was logical to wonder if that had something to do with her shooting percentage of 4-of-17, including 2-of-13 three-pointers, but she was quick to disprove that theory after the game.
“Obviously, he hit me pretty good in the eye. I don’t think it affected me, honestly. I felt like I had good shots, they just didn’t go in. Obviously, that was a tough time for it. I had some really good chances. I had two, three pretty open threes in the first half, like you normally do,” Clark said.
“It’s tough, but I felt like I fought and did my best and took better care of the ball than usual (she hit her season low with two turnovers), which is positive.”
Clark said the Fever were still in the game until things got out of control at the end and the Sun added another.
“As coach (Christie Sides) said in the locker room, we were down by three points in the first quarter, down by five (more) points in the second quarter and then down by three (more) points in the third quarter – we were right there and it felt like we just played a crappy game, like the flow of the game was really bad,” she said.
GAME 1 SUMMARY: Fever and Clark struggle in playoff loss to Sun
But as for her eye, she clarified: “It didn’t bother me. Of course, it wasn’t that nice when it happened. But it is what it is.”
As they prepared for this best-of-three series, the Fever had talked about how they hoped their youthful exuberance would get them the win. They were buoyed by what had worked over the last month, a Clark-fueled adrenaline rush that led to a 9-5 post-Olympics record, including an 84-80 win over Connecticut in Indianapolis on Aug. 28. Clark and her running mate Kelsey Mitchell had finished the summer with flying colors, with a supporting cast that continually rose to the occasion, including some big plays from Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull, to name a few.
Could this be the winning formula for a short series against a far more experienced opponent? Connecticut’s players had played a combined 222 playoff games before entering Sunday. The Fever’s entire roster had played just 19 games.
WNBA PLAYOFF TIPS: Will Fever advance and will the Aces repeat their success?
The answer to that question became obvious as the game went on: not that day. Connecticut was just too physical, just too good. Clark finished with 11 points, eight assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Sun coach Stephanie White decided to change things up after the August loss to Indiana and put 6-4 veteran DeWanna Bonner in the team to face Clark’s 6-0 team.
“This game is so much about comfort, rhythm, timing, all of those things,” White said. “How can you make an adjustment that disrupts some of that? … Credit to (Bonner) for taking on that challenge. It gave us a different look at the point and I really liked that.”
Now Connecticut needs just one win to win the series and eliminate the Fever, while Indiana needs a win in Game 2 here on Wednesday to force a decisive Game 3 in Indiana on Friday.
There was optimism in the Fever camp. “These guys are going to shoot a lot better on Wednesday,” Sides said, “and that’s going to make a big difference.”
With one playoff game on her resume, Clark and her teammates will do the only thing they can do in this series: They’ll get right back at it.
Editor’s note: Christine Brennan is writing a book about Caitlin Clark and the revolution in women’s sports, to be published by Scribner in spring/summer 2025.
Follow Christine Brennan on social media @cbrennansports
