Clark dazzles in front of sellout for WNBA debut

Caitlin Clark made her WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever before a sellout crowd in a preseason game against the Dallas Wings on Friday at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. More than three hours before the game, some fans had “lined up outside the arena dressed in No. 22 University of Iowa jerseys.” Clark led all first-half scorers with 16 points in 16 minutes and finished with a team-high 21 points in the Fever’s 79-76 loss. She was 6 of 15 from the field including 5 of 13 from deep, and had three rebounds, two assists, four fouls and five turnovers. Clark said there was “a lot to be proud of” in her debut. Clark: “The crowd was great all night. That’s what you expect with a sellout. Those are going to be the same for the crowds all year long.” Clark received a “rousing ovation” before tipoff when she was introduced. While Clark had "plenty of fans in attendance,” Wings fans “didn’t give her a pass.” The game sold out all 6,251 seats “soon after it was announced” and a local TV crew even “recorded the Fever’s arrival” at DFW International Airport on Thursday (AP, 5/4).

There were some times where the “increased physicality of the WNBA seemed to frustrate" Clark, but she “didn't let her stop that from doing what she does best: 3-pointers” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/3). Clark had a “welcome to the WNBA” moment with the game tied and less than 30 seconds to play when Wings F Natasha Howard “blocked Clark's layup attempt with the shot clock dwindling” (ESPN.com, 5/3).

Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw wrote on X, “I’ve been here when the upper deck was tarped over. This is what Caitlin Clark does for a preseason game with the Mavs and Stars playing Game 6’s tonight” (X, 5/3).