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Breanna Stewart ruined Caitlin Clark’s regular-season home debut by scoring 31 points to lead the New York Liberty to a 102-66 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 17,247 Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
In the city’s most-anticipated rookie debut since Peyton Manning made his in 1998, Clark did not deliver the performance many expected. For the second straight game, she struggled with foul trouble. The rookie finished with nine points, seven rebounds and six assists. She made three turnovers, none after the first quarter in a dramatic improvement over the WNBA debut record 10 she had Tuesday night in Connecticut.
Clark struggled to find open shots and finished 2-of-8 from the field and just 1-of-7 on 3-point attempts. She finished with five fouls after getting whistled three
Stewart added 10 rebounds and four assists for the Liberty. Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones each scored 14 for New York, which has won eight straight over Indiana. Jones also had 10 rebounds.
Aliyah Boston had a game-high 12 points and seven rebounds for Indiana, and Katie Lou Samuelson added 10 points.
The Liberty didn’t just make life difficult for Clark, they made things tough for Indiana.
Stewart helped New York seize control by taking a 25-16 lead after one quarter. And when the Fever cut the deficit to 32-27 midway through the second quarter, Stewart answered with four straight points to spur a 12-0 run that gave the Liberty a 44-27 cushion late in the first half.
Indiana finally responded by closing the third quarter with 12 straight points, the first seven coming courtesy of Clark, to make it 67-56 after three.
But the defending Eastern Conference champs opened the fourth quarter on a 12-0 spurt and cruised to their second straight victory.
The Fever shot just 22-of-60 from the floor and 5-of-19 on 3-point attempts. New York shot 36-of-78 from the field and 22-of-23 from the foul line while outrebounding Indiana 40-26.
HUGE ATTENDANCE BOOST
The sellout crowd of 17,247 far exceeded the crowd of 7,356 at last year’s Fever home opener, a 70-61 loss to Connecticut. The Fever averaged just 4,067 fans per home game last season, placing the team 11th in the 12-team league.
It was just the third regular-season sellout in Fever history. The Fever also sold out the 2003 season opener and the final game of the 2016 regular season, which was the last home game for Fever great Tamika Catchings.
UP NEXT
The Fever and Liberty head back to New York on Saturday for a rematch. The Fever’s next home game is Monday against Connecticut.
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In spite of the hype over Caitlin Clark, …this team is absolutely un-competitive! The Fever organization have had more top end picks in their version of the draft over the last 5 years than any other franchise. To be at this level, with or without #22 is inexcusable. Put the blame on management and coaching. Speaking of which, at this rate won’t last the current season. Look for ABC/ESPN to find their way out of their pre-season National Fever multi- game coverage. Losing is one thing, getting blown-out and embarrassed is deal breaker holding very minimal viewer interest. Sorry, but the shine on expectations, after these 2 outings, have been irreparably damaged.
You can only blame so much on the coach. Caitlins stats are horrible and she’s the one breaking records with turn overs, only scoring 9 points and dismal shooting! Her game has truly went to the pits of hell so far. Will be interesting to see if it gets better as the season goes on but the entire league has her and the Fever team in their radar and each team will play the Fever like it’s a playoff game. Welcome to the league Caitlin
You can tell Kevin’s never played a sport.
As the original Kevin P that frequently comments here, Murray is probably correct! Ha!
For those people who haven’t followed the WNBA previously let me get you up to speed:
Sides is a joke of a coach. She was a bottom dollar cheap hire like everything that PS&E does. Things will not get better with her as the coach,
The most surprising thing about Sides is that the Fever knew they had generational talent coming in and the entire league knows Sides is a joke. Yet, they didn’t fire her over the winter.
I fully expect Clark and Boston will get out of this hell hole at the first opportunity.
Wasn’t gonna be any different!! Hype job about over!!!
I agree that this just might be the biggest hype in all of sports. You can only blame so much on the coaching staff