ARLINGTON, Texas — More than 3 hours earlier than Caitlin Clark made her WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever in an exhibition game against the Dallas Wings on Friday evening, some lovers some of the sellout crowd have been covered up out of doors the world wearing No. 22 University of Iowa jerseys.
And Clark placed on a display.
The two-time NCAA ladies’s basketball participant of the yr led all first-half scorers with 16 issues in 16 mins and completed with a team-high 21 issues within the Fever’s 79-76 loss. She used to be 6 of 15 from the sphere together with 5 of 13 from deep, and had 3 rebounds, two assists, 4 fouls and 5 turnovers.
Her 21 issues tied for the game excessive with Dallas rookie Jaelyn Brown.
She even had a possibility to ship the game into extra time. Dallas’ successful basket via Arike Ogunbowale got here with 3 seconds left and Clark’s 3-point strive from the appropriate nook at the buzzer fell quick.
Clark’s first professional basket got here on a 28-foot 3-pointer close to the left sideline lower than a minute into play. She hit 4 3-pointers within the 1/2 and added two of 3 unfastened throws when fouled on a shot in the back of the arc.
She used to be scoreless within the 3rd duration and sat for the general 5 mins after gathering her fourth foul.
Christina Edge, who lived in Iowa for 35 years earlier than shifting to the Dallas suburb of Rowlett 3 years in the past, used to be one of the crucial lovers who confirmed up early. She stated arriving that early at the University of Texas-Arlington’s College Park Center would build up her probabilities of touchdown a photograph with the basketball phenomenon who used to be the two-time nationwide participant of the yr with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“It’s my birthday,” stated Edge, who stated her son gave her the price ticket as a birthday present, “and I just want a picture with her!” She carried a shiny yellow posterboard signal promoting that plea.
Pailynn Amos, 9, used to be additionally out of doors the world dressed in a yellow Clark jersey with her personal signal — “When I grow up I wanna be just like her.”
Rebecca Amos, Pailynn’s mom, made the roughly hour-long power from the city of Ennis.
“I watched her (on TV) like crazy,” Rebecca stated. “So, she (Pailynn) just kind of grew to her. Then we were like, ‘Wow, now she’s in Dallas.’ We could actually go see her!”
Clark gained a rousing ovation earlier than tipoff when presented with Indiana’s starters.
While Clark had quite a lot of lovers in attendance, Wings lovers didn’t give her a go. As she dribbled previous her defender at midcourt right through the primary 1/2, one girl shouted, “Get her! Get her!”
The WNBA’s first preseason game used to be performed the similar evening that the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks hosted the LA Clippers in Game 6 of a first-round playoff sequence about 20 miles away.
The exhibition game used to be the primary of 2 for the Fever earlier than Clark will make her regular-season debut on May 14 at the Connecticut Sun.
The game offered out all 6,251 seats quickly after it used to be introduced on Dallas’ time table, in particular asked via Wings president and CEO Greg Bibb quickly after Clark declared in February she would depart faculty for the WNBA with twelve months of eligibility closing. Indiana gained the lottery for this yr’s first pick out final December.
An area tv staff recorded the Fever’s arrival at DFW International Airport on Thursday. During Clark’s media consultation on Friday morning, she addressed the request to signal a pair’s ultrasound image.
“That was definitely a first,” she stated with amusing.
“It’s really great that Caitlin’s bringing all this attention to women’s basketball, so I’m really grateful for that,” Wings heart Kalani Brown stated. “It’s great for our game.”
“This is what women’s basketball has deserved for quite some time now,” stated Fever heart Aliyah Boston, final season’s WNBA rookie of the yr and the ladies’s collegiate participant of the yr earlier than Clark’s run. “It’s better late than never. I’m really excited for what’s to come for this league.”
The Wings final month stated they’d offered out their season-ticket allotment, which accounts for roughly 2,500 seats.
Indiana will go back to College Park Center to play two times right through the steady season, on July 17 within the final game earlier than the WNBA’s just about month-long Olympic hiatus and in the future after the MLB All-Star Game is performed at the Texas Rangers’ house stadium lower than 3 miles away. The Fever additionally play there Sept. 1.