IOWA CITY, Iowa — The fans got exactly what they wanted Sunday at Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena: another vintage Caitlin Clark moment.
It came in her Indiana Fever’s 108-44 victory over the Brazilian national team in a WNBA exhibition game that was also a sold-out homecoming for the former Hawkeyes star.
To punctuate her night, Clark made an estimated 36-foot 3-pointer from just behind the spot on the court that has her No. 22 logo affixed. That’s where she hit the shot as an Iowa senior in 2024 that broke the NCAA women’s basketball career-scoring record.
“I don’t know if I shoot 36-footers every day, but 30-plus for sure,” Clark said with a chuckle when asked if she regularly practices shots from that far back. “It was just kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. You don’t always realize where you are.”
The fans knew right where she was, though, as they rose to their feet and roared, with the overwhelming majority of the full house of just under 15,000 wearing Hawkeyes or Fever shirts with Clark’s name and No. 22 on them.
Clark hit the shot with 26.1 seconds left in the third quarter, knowing she would sit the final quarter. It was her first game action since Sept. 25 last season, when the Fever were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Connecticut Sun.
Clark missed Saturday’s exhibition victory in Indianapolis over the Washington Mystics with a lower leg injury, a precautionary decision to help her be ready for Sunday. She finished the game Sunday with 16 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds, and said it was just good to be back in action again.
“I haven’t played [a game] in, like 200 days, so I was a little nervous going in,” Clark said. “The competitive spirit in me — you just want to play really good for these fans.”
Clark said it is special to her how much the Iowa fans have embraced not just her in the WNBA, but the Fever.
“It’s hard to put it into words what exactly it means to me,” the Iowa native said. “It’s almost overwhelming. I’m just very thankful to come back to a place that continues to support me.”
Fellow guard Kelsey Mitchell had 17 points Sunday. Forwards Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard had 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Fever, who play at the Atlanta Dream in a final exhibition Saturday and open the season at home May 17 against the Chicago Sky.
Clark, Mitchell and Boston were the standouts last season on the Fever’s 20-20 team, which returned to the WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2016. Howard, DeWanna Bonner and Sophie Cunningham are offseason additions who bring a lot of veteran experience to the Fever.
Stephanie White, a former Fever player and coach, has returned to lead the team this season. As a Purdue guard in the 1990s, White played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and she has been a television analyst for many games at the venue. But she said it was different being on the sidelines with the support of the crowd.
“I thought it was electric,” White said. “To actually feel the energy, it gives you a lift. It’s why we all do what we do, to feed [off of] these kinds of environments. Oftentimes, it’s difficult for fans to get to a WNBA city, and we have great college basketball fan bases throughout the country that deserve an opportunity to see these women doing what they do at the highest level.”
White added of Clark’s monster 3-pointer: “That’s just who she is, what she does. It was a good momentum builder and, of course, what everybody wants to see from Caitlin, especially in this arena.”
Sunday’s game followed two college “homecoming” WNBA exhibition games held Friday, at Notre Dame and LSU.
