Caitlin Clark calls preseason debut with Indiana Fever 'a great atmosphere for women's basketball'

The atmosphere was electric Friday night at the College Park Center in Dallas. Caitlin Clark donned an Indiana Fever uniform for the first time as they took on Arike Ogunbowale and the Dallas Wings in front of a packed house.

The thing is, it wasn’t the regular season opener. It was the first preseason game of the year, yet more than 6,000 people were in attendance. That’s almost 1,500 more than Dallas’ average attendance during the 2023 regular season. Those fans not only saw Ogunbowale hit a last-second shot to send the Wings past the Fever, but also watched Clark pour in 21 points with five three-pointers in her unofficial debut.

It wasn’t a perfect showing – it was the first preseason game, after all – but Clark noted how impressed she was with the energy in the arena.

“I thought we played really hard,” Clark said during her postgame interview. “Just a great atmosphere for women’s basketball. I think it’s a good kickoff to the WNBA season. I think the way we play, there’s some things we could have executed a little better. I thought we could have gotten our offense a little bit better. The pace was amazing.

“That’s fun basketball people like to watch. But overall, definitely what I expected.”

Caitlin Clark: First preseason game gave ‘lots to learn from’

Just a month removed from her time at Iowa, Clark didn’t look like she missed a beat. In addition to her 21 points to lead a Kelsey Mitchell-less Fever team, she also added three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Aliyah Boston also had a big game, leading Indiana with eight rebounds to go with her eight points.

As for what she took away from the performance, Clark said Indiana has some things to clean up before the season opener May 14 against the Connecticut Sun. That’s where the tape will help, and she said that’s next before the Fever wrap up the preseason against the Atlanta Dream May 9.

“I think just the little things,” Clark said. “I think knowing when to push in transition and knowing when to slow up and run our offense a little bit better. I think overall, our defense was pretty good – I thought we could have gotten better in some areas, I thought we could have passed the ball a little bit better.

“But overall, lots of learn from. These are good learning experiences for us. This doesn’t count. Go back and watch the film – film doesn’t lie – and learn from that.”