Caitlin Clark excited for home debut on Thursday

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It was not the smoothest debut for Caitlin Clark on Tuesday night. She set the record for most amount of turnovers in a WNBA debut with 10. But, she did finish with 20 points and knocked down four threes, which was also a record.

She joined Maya Moore and Edna Campbell as the only players in WNBA history to score 20 points and make four three pointers in their debut.

Now, she returns to Indianapolis for her regular season home debut on Thursday, when the Fever play the New York Liberty.

“I guess I’m just excited for Thursday to get back home and have our home opener,” Clark said after the game on Tuesday.

The home crowd should be packed on Thursday night with Fever fans. Their preseason game against the Atlanta Dream set a Fever attendance record for a preseason game, with 13,028 fans in the building. The Fever averaged just over 4,000 fans per game last season.

“Any time you can have a home opener and have the support that we’ve had, our preseason game was tremendous and now we get to for real,” Clark said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to be loud. We’re going to need to use the environment to our advantage and I think just learn and move on and get ready to play. Embrace it and enjoy it because it is special, too.”

While it was not the ideal regular season debut, Clark did play better in the fourth quarter. She scored eight points and knocked down two three-pointers.

It was a rough first game for the team as a whole as well. They turned the ball over 25 times and allowed the Sun to shoot over 42% from three-point range. All-Star and 2023 Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston was shut down as well, scoring just four points on 2-6 shooting.

The Fever home opener on Thursday will be against the New York Liberty, who lost in the WNBA Finals last year. They also have the reigning WNBA MVP, Breanna Stewart.

The game will tip off at 7 p.m.

Stay updated with WISH-TV‘s live coverage from Gainbridge Fieldhouse starting at 5 p.m.