Caitlin Clark leaves game vs. Connecticut Sun with apparent ankle injury
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark has been taken back to the locker room after suffering an ankle injury in the second quarter of Monday’s contest against the Connecticut Sun. The No. 1 overall pick looked to roll her left ankle while working around a screen on defense and immediately fell to the floor.
Clark got up and walked away under her own power, but had a noticeable limp as she made her way back for further evaluation. You can view the moment below.
ESPN’s Holly Rowe offered some context to the injury, revealing that Clark’s ankle had been bothering her in the pregame.
“We did see Caitlin get her ankle worked on and retaped during shootaround today,” Rowe said. “She told us that it felt tight and that maybe she didn’t stretch enough before shootaround. But obviously, a misstep there. I did see her go into the tunnel.
“Their athletic trainer, Todd Champlin, did come back to the bench, reach down, and grab all the rolls of tape from underneath the bench, and go back into the tunnel. So, initially, it looks like they’ll try to retape her.”
Clark later returned to the bench but did not check back into the game for the remainder of the first half. She has played 11 minutes thus far and scored eight points on 2-of-6 shooting. The Fever held a narrow 44-41 lead against the Sun at halftime behind a combined 22 first-half points from Kelsey Mitchell and NaLyssa Smith.
Rowe later provided another update, indicating that Clark could return to the game in the second half.
“Caitlin Clark can return to this game,” Rowe said in the second quarter. “You saw her just pop off the bench and get that pass as it rolled out of bounds. She has really been tightening her shoe. I saw her give a big exhale on the bench and then I did see her kind of mutter to herself. She’s frustrated that just happened. But it looks like she will return.”
That would ultimately be the case as Clark was on the court for the start of the second half. She’ll look to put the injury scare behind her and finish out the game as the Fever are still in search of their first win.
Through her first three WNBA games, Clark has averaged 17.0 points, 5.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds on 40% shooting.