Clark has an impressive WNBA debut with 21 points: “A lot to be proud of”

2024 No. 1 WNBA choice Caitlin Clark made her unofficial professional debut Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 6,251 at UT Arlington’s College Park Centre. Clark scored 21 points in the Fever’s close 79-76 loss to the Dallas Wings.


11 of Indiana’s first 19 points came from the NCAA’s all-time top scorer, who ended the first half with 16 points, including a stepback 3-pointer against Natasha Howard, the veteran. After receiving her third and fourth fouls in rapid succession, she went scoreless in the third quarter and spent the most of the period on the bench.

When the game resumed in the fourth quarter, Clark scored her sixth 3-pointer of the game and found Aliyah Boston for a pass on a pick-and-roll. With the game deadlocked and fewer than 30 seconds remaining, Howard stopped Clark’s layup attempt as the shot clock was running down, creating a “welcome to the WNBA” moment.
Together with Dallas rookie Jaelyn Brown, Clark’s 21 points (6 for 15 shooting, 5 for 13 from three) equaled the game high. Clark also had two assists, two steals, three rebounds, and five turnovers.
“My biggest goal coming into tonight was to continue to be myself, play aggressive,” Clark said. “I assumed that was what I had done. I believe there is plenty to be grateful for.”
Although fans had gone to see Clark, Dallas player Arike Ogunbowale made sure the home team won by scoring the team’s last seven points and making a game-winning, step-back three-pointer with three seconds remaining.
Clark attempted to tie the game with an off-balanced last shot at the buzzer, but it was unsuccessful.

In the Metroplex, it was a great day for sports. The NHL’s Stars were playing in their own first-round Game 6 fight in Las Vegas, which they lost, while the NBA’s Mavericks staged a Game 6 triumph over the LA Clippers in downtown Dallas that sealed the first-round series. Many fans continued to pour into Arlington, many of them wearing No. 22 or holding banners supporting Clark.

The NCAA record scorer was welcomed into the starting lineup of the Fever with a thundering shout, even though she was on the visiting side. Boston, another previous No. 1 choice, also earned a standing ovation. Even though the majority of the spectators were pro-Wings, they were nonetheless enthusiastic about Clark and applauded her on when she made four of her eight 3-point tries in the first half. The teams swapped leads seven times and saw nine ties.
“You couldn’t ask for a better game, really, for women’s basketball to kick off this [WNBA] year,” Clark said. “Two teams battled in an amazing game that came down to the wire. That will be the year’s main narrative.”
The rookie sensation made her first two 3-pointers of her professional career, one on a baseline out-of-bounds play where Clark’s defender lost her and the other with Wings fans still standing, eager for their hometown team to score. Clark’s fame began to take shape in the spring of 2023 after a captivating Final Four run with the Hawkeyes, twenty-five miles away.
“I was able to get a pretty clean look for my first shot,” she said. “It’s always nice to see your first shot go in when you’re a shooter.”
Clark said before to the game that her major objective for her first WNBA action was to remain true to herself; looking back, she realised that she mostly achieved that by playing hard and aggressively, but she also acknowledged that she could improve on turnovers and that the WNBA’s toughness would change. At the conclusion of the first quarter, head coach Christie Sides reported Clark seemed “gassed” and requested a substitution.
Both Clark and Sides said that it would take some getting used to playing alongside and against players of such calibre. In order to simplify her life, the point guard pondered after the game that she doesn’t have to create everything herself and may utilise screens from her teammates or set some herself.
“She works really hard to get some shots that she doesn’t have to work as hard for anymore,” Sides said.
After a “passive” start, Wings coach Latricia Trammel credited her team’s increased defensive energy and communication for Clark’s quieter second half.
Fans watching Clark were also treated to strong performances by Brown and Wings runner-up Ogunbowale (19).
“I had a horrible shooting day [9 for 24, 1 for 7 from 3] but that’s why it’s a team, that’s why it’s not golf,” Ogunbowale said. “Jaelyn and the other team members held things together, and I was able to enter the game and hit the game’s last three points—the only three I really hit all night. However, because it’s basketball, you simply need to go on and continue shooting.”
The Fever are hopeful that Smith, the 2022 No. 2 selection, and the rest of their youthful core—Boston and Smith, the franchise- and league-great Tamika Catchings’ last season before retiring—will lead the team to its first playoff appearance since 2016.
Before playing their regular season opening on the road against the Connecticut Sun on May 14, Indiana has one more tune-up match on Thursday night against the Atlanta Dream in Indianapolis.
There are many positive things to learn from it. Don’t be too disappointed, however; it’s only a preseason game,” Clark said. “Just go back and watch the film, learn from it, and get ready for our next one.”

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