The pressure is off Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever as the WNBA rookie sensation and her team secured their first win of the season.
The Fever overcame an 11-point deficit in the first half to defeat the Los Angeles Sparks 78-73 on Friday night, in front of a record crowd of 19,103 at Crypto.com Arena.
Clark recorded her first WNBA double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She hit two crucial 3-pointers in the final minutes after missing her first seven attempts from long range. Clark also added eight assists and only two turnovers.
At the buzzer, relief was evident on Clark’s face. She smiled as she crossed the court to greet actor and fellow Iowan Ashton Kutcher, his wife Mila Kunis, and their children. The crowd included many fans wearing gold Iowa shirts.
“Nights like tonight just remind me of why I love playing basketball and why I started playing basketball,” she said. “You get a win and you walk off the floor and there’s so many young kids just screaming your name and love getting to watch you."v 44444
The start of Clark’s pro career has been challenging. Every move has been scrutinized since she became college basketball’s career scoring leader for both men and women at Iowa. The attention and pressure intensified when the Fever selected her No. 1 in the WNBA draft.
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| Caitlin Clark controls the ball against Zia Cooke on Friday. |
“It’s definitely been a whirlwind,” she said. “I feel like I talk to the media more than I get to talk to my own family which is really kind of sad in a way. It’s a lot for somebody that’s 22 years old. It can be tough at times. Our team is really young. It’s difficult navigating this.”
The five-game skid to open the season only added to the harping by critics, many of whom had automatically tabbed the Fever to win the WNBA championship after going 13-27 last year.
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