05/14/24 01:15:00
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05/14 13:13 CDT Caitlin Clark's ready for her WNBA regular-season debut as
Fever take on Connecticut
Caitlin Clark's ready for her WNBA regular-season debut as Fever take on
Connecticut
By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) --- Caitlin Clark's much anticipated WNBA debut is set
for Tuesday night in Connecticut.
The No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft is coming off a record-setting college career
at Iowa.
"This is what you've worked for and dreamed of. Now you get to put your jersey
on for the first real time and go out there and play," Clark said. "We get to
play on the biggest stage, there's going to be a lot of people there, it's
going to be loud. But you only play your first WNBA game once. I think I just
want to enjoy it. It's going to be competitive. They're really good, so you've
got to prep the right way, too. More than anything, we're ready for the
challenge."
Even before playing a WNBA game, Clark has left her mark in the pros. The
league's draft had record viewership, and her No. 22 Indiana Fever jerseys have
been flying off the shelves.
Three WNBA teams have already moved their games to bigger arenas to keep up
with the demand for tickets to watch her play. Her debut in Connecticut is sold
out --- the first sellout for the Sun in a season opener since they played
their inaugural game at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2003 after moving from Orlando.
There's also a huge media turnout with nearly four-times the number of
credentials issued for this game then a normal Sun contest.
Clark and her teammates took the court in a morning shootaround at the empty
arena. She said afterward that she planned to watch more film during the day in
her hotel room.
"I don't feel nervous or really anxious," she said. "I think I'm just excited
more than anything and just embracing it."
Clark said she's not going to get too caught up on her play in her first game.
"If something isn't perfect, my life's not going to end," she said. "If, you
know, we lose the game tonight, my life's not going to end. I'm just going to
learn from it and come back on Thursday and try to help us win."
This will be the second sold-out crowd Clark will play in front of in her
extremely young WNBA career. Her preseason game in Dallas was sold out, too.
More than 13,000 fans also turned up for her only home preseason game.
Clark's home debut will be Thursday, when the Fever host the New York Liberty.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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