Caitlin Clark: WNBA No. 1 pick suffers mixed night on debut with 10 turnovers in Indiana Fever defeat - 'Learn from it'

Caitlin Clark endured a mixed night on her WNBA debut as the Indiana Fever suffered defeat at the hands of Connecticut Sun on the opening night of the new season.

Clark's debut was a much-anticipated event after she became the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft following her hugely successful college career.

The 22-year-old is considered one of the greatest college basketball players of all time after she broke numerous records during her time in Iowa.

She had given supporters a taste of what was to come when she dropped 21 points in pre-season, but Indiana slipped to a 92-71 defeat against Connecticut in their season opener.

Clark scored the most points for her side with 20 but also committed 10 turnovers - the most in a career debut in WNBA history.

Clark finished her college career as the NCAA Division I basketball's all-time leading scorer, but didn't score her first Indiana points until early in the second quarter.

"I'm disappointed, and nobody likes to lose, but I don't think you can beat yourself up too much about one game," Clark said in her post-match interview.

"I don't think that's going to help this team. Just learn from it and move on."

When asked about the difficulties during her professional debut, Clark replied: "I think definitely the physicality.

"I think also just like some uncharacteristic stuff. Like, I pick up the ball and travel, I dribble off my foot, I pass it on the inbound, I turn it over. So just a few things that are just ... you have to be crisper."

It was another disappointing start to the season for the Fever who have now lost 10 of their last 11 opening matches.

Fever coach Christie Sides stressed that the team cannot afford to put too much pressure on Clark during her rookie campaign in the WNBA.

"She's a rookie," she said. "This is the best league in the world. We've got to teach her. We've got to teach her what these games are going to look like for her every single night.

"And we've got to eliminate some of that pressure for her, and that's on me."

The schedule doesn't get much easier for the Fever and Clark as they face back-to-back games against last season's runners-up the New York Liberty, before facing the Sun again on Monday.

New York Liberty 85-80 Washington Mystics

Indiana Fever 71-92 Connecticut Sun

Phoenix Mercury 80-89 Las Vegas Aces

Minnesota Lynx 83-70 Seattle Storm

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