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Caitlin Clark drains long distance three during preseason debut in Iowa return

On3 imageby:Sam Gillenwater•05/04/25•

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Caitlin Clark
Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB)

Caitlin Clark took the floor for the first time this preseason for the Indiana Fever on Sunday. She did so in a familiar arena too with the game being played back in her college venue at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Clark played well throughout her preseason debut, going into her second season in the WNBA, on her collegiate court at Iowa. That included this 36-foot three-pointer, which was reminiscent of her record-breaking triple for the scoring record last year, towards the end of the third quarter.

“I thought, 30 seconds? I can make a two-for-one work!” Clark said in her team’s huddle during a mic’d up segment on the broadcast for ESPN.

“Well, Steph said I’m going to take you out and then, I was in a two-for-one situation so I knew I could get one up because that means I can get a quick shot up. So, I was like, ah, why not?” Clark said about it after the game to Holly Rowe. “They let me dribble into it. And, I always am further back than I actually think. But, yeah, happy about it.”

This three would put Indiana up 61 going towards the final quarter. It would also be the final play of the afternoon for Clark as she’d sit for the fourth quarter with the Fever winning 108-44 over the Brazilian National Team.

Clark would finish her return to Iowa City with 16 points (6-10 FG, 4-6 3PT), six rebounds, five assists, and a block in 19 minutes played. That was among their better performances in the blowout along with Kelsey Mitchell (17 points) and Aliyah Boston (11 points, seven rebounds).

“I did alright. We’ll clean up some stuff but, we’ll see,” Clark said of her first outing.

This comes the day after Clark missed the team’s preseason debut on Saturday with a leg injury. They came back to win 79-74 over the Washington Mystics in Indy. They’ll now have one preseason game left next weekend against the Atlanta Dream before opening the upcoming season against the Chicago Sky the weekend after that on May 17th.

Again, this game as a whole, especially that was, was déjà vu to what Clark did in her four years at Iowa. She averaged 28.4 points (46.2% FG, 37.7% 3PT on 3.9 makes), 8.2 assists, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game as a Hawkeye as an all-time player in women’s college basketball. That’s with several all-time records for the program, conference, and nationally, namely the all-time scoring record and all-time three-point record, as a two-time National Player of the Year and a four-time selection as an All-American. That would help Iowa to 109-30 record in winning four titles in the Big Ten and earning four berths in the Women’s NCAA Tournament, including consecutive title game appearances with runner-up finishes in 2023 and 2024.

With that, Carver-Hawkeye Arena was sold out with 15,000-plus there to welcome Clark home to Iowa. Several teammates and coaches were obviously in attendance for it too like Lisa Bluder, Jan Jensen, and players.

“I mean, they always exceed it. I mean, they were amazing. Just really thankful to be able to come back here and appreciate this place and these fans…Just thankful,” Clark said postgame of her homecoming as a professional. “I’m just thankful I could bring (the Indiana Fever) all here…I mean, this is what women’s basketball is all about. And, all these people, 15,000 people love them too. That’s what it’s about.”

This was a special game, for the player as well as her former program and fanbase, this afternoon at Iowa. Now, Clark will turn to her second season as a pro as the Fever, a top team projected going into this next season in the WNBA, have less than two weeks now until their opener in Indianapolis.