Women’s basketball sensation Caitlin Clark scored 20 points, but gave up 10 turnovers on a tough WNBA debut as her Indiana Fever team fell to a 92-71 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday.
Clark, NCAA Division I basketball’s all-time leading scorer, has brought unprecedented attention to women’s basketball with her college career which rewrote the record books and shattered attendance and television viewing records.
Indiana took her as the No. 1 draft pick, maintaining the buzz around Clark that had peaked with her run to the National Championship game with Iowa Hawkeyes.
Photo: AP
The hype in the buildup was always going to be hard to live up to, but Clark and her team endured a tough night against a strong Suns defense.
“There’s a lot to learn from, it’s the first one,” Clark said. “There’s going to be good ones, there’s going to be bad ones.”
The game at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, was sold out, with courtside seats being offered for as much as US$4,262 on secondary markets.
While she was making her debut on the road, it was evident from the crowd reactions that many had come just to see the star of last month’s NCAA tournament.
Clark’s 20 points made her the Fever’s top scorer and came on 5-of-15 shooting, 4-of-11 on three-pointers and 6-of-6 on free throws. She also had three assists, two steals and 10 turnovers.
Clark struggled early in the game, picking up two touch fouls which saw her head to the bench prematurely.
Her first points did not come until there were five minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter, although she found her flow later with 13 second-half points.
“I would have liked to have played a little better tonight. Obviously getting into foul trouble and then you are going to sit on the bench and try to come back and get a little bit of a flow,” she said. “Obviously too many turnovers — that’s not going to get the job done. There’s a lot of things to learn from.”
“I thought it took me a little while to settle into the game. I thought the second half was a lot better minus some of the turnovers,” she said.
The Sun’s star forward Alyssa Thomas recorded a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
RSS