Caitlin Clark, the Iowa phenom who went No. 1 in the 2024 WNBA Draft last month, opened her professional career Tuesday night when the Indiana Fever visited the Connecticut Sun. 

Clark, the all-time leading scorer in college basketball, finished with 20 points in her WNBA debut but shot just 5-of-15 from the field, was marred by foul trouble in the first quarter and turned the ball over a whopping 10 times. Worse, her team lost 92-71. 

‘There’s a lot to learn from,’ Clark said afterward. ‘We play on Thursday, you gotta learn from it and move on and be ready to go. Things are gonna come fast, this season is going to go fast.’

Clark mentioned some uncharacteristic moments — she picked the ball up and traveled, dribbled off her foot, etc. — that played a part in all her turnovers, and praised Connecticut’s ball screen traps and hedges. She said the Fever didn’t always do a good job giving the dribbler better passing angles, something echoed by Indiana coach Christie Sides. 

“We’ve gotta help her out, we’ve gotta do a better job coming back to the ball,” Sides said. 

It wasn’t all bad for the back-to-back national college player of the year, though. Clark also dished three assists and grabbed two steals. She shot just 4-of-11 from beyond the arc, but went a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line. 

The Fever and Clark open play at home on Thursday against the New York Liberty, which lost last year in the WNBA Finals to the Las Vegas Aces. The game will tip at 7 p.m. ET and be broadcast on Amazon Prime and the WNBA League Pass. Clark is looking forward to it.

‘The more games I play, the more comfortable I’m going to get,’ Clark said.

Caitlin Clark stats for 2024 season

Points: 20.0
Rebounds: 0.0
Assists: 3.0
Steals: 2.0
FG%: 33.3%
3FG%: 36.4%