Well, the first WNBA game for Caitlin Clark is ancient history. And it's safe to say she is probably hoping all of them don't end this way.
Clark was pretty good, scoring 20 points and showing flashes of what may be to come — though her Indiana Fever were hammered by the Connecticut Sun, dropping a 92-71 decision on the road.
Along with leading her team in scoring, Clark went 5-for-15 from the field, including 4-for-11 on 3-pointers, with three assists and two steals. But she also committed a whopping 10 turnovers.
But the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft did more right than wrong and you can see the All-Star potential already. She just has to settle in a little.
Goodness knows she's already a draw, as the opposing crowd was a sellout of 8,910. That marked the Sun's first sellout since their very first game back in 2003.
"Clark, who emerged as the face of women's basketball while in college at Iowa, elicited cheers from the crowd, including the moment she corralled the ball off the opening tip, when she scored her first official WNBA points (off a layup) and as she started to get going from the 3-point arc," wrote Alexa Philippou of ESPN.
This, of course, was just the start for Clark, college basketball's all-time leading scorer. The Fever are in a retooling phase and building around Clark and center center Aliyah Boston, the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year. So there is nowhere to go but up.
But it may take some patience.
"The Fever — who are hoping by year's end to snap the league's longest active playoff drought at seven seasons — have lost their opening game in 10 of the past 11 seasons, with their only win coming in 2019," Philippou wrote.
