Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark made her first appearance in Atlanta on Friday night as the Fever battled the Dream at State Farm Arena.
Indiana(7-10) led from start to finish and defeated the Dream(6-8) 91-79 to win their fourth consecutive game.
Clark brought the fans out. With an official attendance of 17,575, the Dream set a franchise record for its highest-ever single-game attendance, and the crowd was the fifth largest of the 2024 WNBA season.
Many fans in Atlanta were cheering for Clark, which has been the case for much of college and now her pro career.
“There aren’t many cheering against us, and that certainly helps,” she said. “And for me, a lot of that was the same in college other than the IU fans. They were pretty crazy.”
The number one pick had 16 points, including four threes, four rebounds, and seven assists, but the Fever did a good portion of their work in the paint. NaLyssa Smith had a team-high 21 points to go with nine rebounds, Aliyah Boston had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Kelsey Mitchell added 18 points.
The Fever were dominant in the lane and had 48 points in the paint.
Indiana hopes to continue their winning ways on Sunday when they travel to Chicago to face Angel Reese and the Sky, and what many believe is one of the biggest rivalries in the WNBA. Clark and Reese were rivals in college, and their rivalry has continued to the next level.
However, Clark doesn’t view it that way. She believes the rivalry is a media creation.
“I’m pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry is all of you (media),” she said. “For us, it’s just a game of basketball. That’s what it is.”
After starting the season 0-5, Indiana is 7-5 in their last 12 games, so things are turning around.
Regarding the Dream, they are going to be without their best player, Rhyne Howard(ankle) for the next few weeks, so they are going to have to weather the storm.
Notes:
Atlanta’s Tina Charles led all scorers with a season-high 24 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. The center also marked a season-high in minutes played and notched the 170th 20-point game of her career. Charles also (1,063) has passed Taj McWilliams-Franklin (1,062) for No. 3 all-time in total offensive rebounds in WNBA history.
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