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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowCaitlin Clark struggled early in her WNBA debut before finishing with 20 points and 10 turnovers as the Indiana Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun 92-71 on Tuesday night.
Connecticut sold 8,910 tickets for Tuesday’s game, the first sellout of a season opener for the Sun since the team played its inaugural game at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2003 after moving from Orlando.
Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, registering the 12th triple-double of her career. DeWanna Bonner added 20 points and DiJonai Carrington had 16. Carrington also was a major reason for Clark’s early offensive struggles, hounding the guard.
“Disappointed and nobody likes to lose, that’s how it is,” Clark said. “Can’t beat yourself up too much about one game.”
With 10 turnovers, Clark broke the WNBA all-time record for turnovers in a debut game, which had been held by Cynthia Cooper-Dyke with nine. Clark committed the most turnovers by an WNBA player in four years, according to Sports Reference.
She’s among only 13 players in the league’s 27-year history with a double-digit turnover game, but she shouldn’t take that to heart. WNBA greats Diana Taurasi, Chamique Holdsclaw and Becky Hammon also are on that list.
The NCAA’s all-time Division I scoring leader, who finished the game 5-for-15 from the field, went scoreless in the first quarter. She missed her first four shots before finally getting on the board midway through the second period.
Clark stole the ball around the foul line and drove the length of the court before laying the ball in. She later added two free throws and hit a 3-pointer with 29.9 seconds left in the first half to finish the opening 20 minutes with seven points, hitting two of her seven shot attempts. The Fever trailed 49-39 at the break.
The Fever got within 63-57 late in the third quarter on two free throws by Clark, but couldn’t get closer the rest of the way.
Clark did start heating up from the field, hitting four 3-pointers, including one from long range.
“Caitlin was able to get her some looks, able to knock them down. our spacing was not great,” Indiana coach Christie Sides said. “Connecticut came in and punched us in the mouth tonight. We’ll be in the gym tomorrow watching a lot of video trying to figure out how not to turn the ball over 25 times.”
The Sun came into the game planning a “super aggressive” defense vs. Clark. Carrington, who drew the primary defensive assignment, said the idea was to be physical and make Clark work hard for every point.
For the Sun, Bonner moved into fifth on the WNBA’s career scoring list, moving ahead of former Phoenix Mercury teammate Candice Dupree. who finished her career with 6,895 points. Bonner passed Dupree on a layup midway through the third quarter.
“To do it here on this night with this team and this group and this crowd made it more special,” Bonner said. “It was huge and goal of mine i can check off my list. to be in this league is hard, to stay in this league is harder. To be part of that list is amazing. pat myself on the back for that one.”
Bonner, who now has 6,901 points, raised her hands to the crowd after a timeout to acknowledge the accomplishment.
Brionna Jones played for the first time since rupturing her right Achilles tendon last June. The Sun’s All-Star center had eight points while playing just under 20 minutes.
“We certainly missed her and it put a smile on my face to see her out there again,” Connecticut coach Stephanie White said.
The Fever return to Indianapolis to play New York on Thursday in the team’s home opener.
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When a team is out rebounded by 24 and has 29 less shots, getting slammed should be expected.
When a single opposing player, Hartenstine, has more offensive rebounds than an entire team, expect to get blown out by 30. Unless Pritchard and company successfully correct the problem by free agency or possibly in the draft, nothing will change. Simply put, the entire roster is grossly undersized, in particular in the paint.
The game I watched may have given Caitlin 10 turnovers, but most of them were slick and tricky pass assist to team members unable to comprehend them, or move fast enough to catch them. Some more practice, bonding, and synergy will probably fix that!
I agree. The Fever do not look well coached. Slow, methodical, predictable offense. Poor offensive movement. Poor defense and rebounding. A franchise that has had more top selections in the draft over the last three years than any other still looks pretty inept. I doubt this current coaching staff will make it through the season. With ‘all eyes’ on the Fever, unlike in previous seasons, poor results will necessarily create a quick ‘trigger’. It may also affect the current team front office management. A bad team with Boston and Clark likely won’t be tolerated.
The season is still young and not everything is Caitlin’s fault but the there’s no doubt the league is giving her a welcoming package. Many will be gunning for Caitlin to prove this is were the GROWN WOMEN reside, none of that fancy assist, no look passing going on like in college without turnovers. Might take the team a season or two to gel
Yes, there’s always a learning curve in these cases ie Bird and Pistol Pete’s first year with new teammates. Always keep an eye on Caitlin or risk getting some BBall leather upside your head.