Connecticut Sun host Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark in WNBA season opener: How to watch, what to know
UNCASVILLE — When she was asked about rookie superstar Caitlin Clark’s highly anticipated arrival in Connecticut, DiJonai Carrington wore an expression like she was struggling internally to keep from rolling her eyes. Point guards Tyasha Harris and Moriah Jefferson exchanged knowing looks, giggling before they answered.
The veteran-laden Connecticut Sun have been here before, playing in front of sold-out crowds in the highest-pressure scenarios the WNBA has to offer. Coach Stephanie White hasn’t needed a single conversation with her roster about dealing with the number of eyes on Tuesday’s season opener against the Indiana Fever, though it will be the first opener sellout since 2003.
The ‘Caitlin Clark effect’ is coming to Mohegan Sun, and the home team is ready to welcome her to the league.
“I mean, 7 o’clock tomorrow, you’ll see,” Carrington said Monday with a chuckle. “At the end of the day, they have to guard us just as much as we have to guard them. I think that physicality of running (Clark) off ball screens, just being physical with her on both ends of the floor, it wears people down. Defensively, we scout to take away the things people like to do. She’s gonna score … but the first shot that she gets can’t be a wide-open three. Eventually she’s gonna get one, but it’s going to be after she sees three or four that don’t go down.”
Carrington and Harris, who started the preseason game, will likely take on the brunt of the defensive assignment against Clark. The No. 1 overall draft pick joins the WNBA as arguably the most prolific scorer in college basketball history: She broke Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old record for career points with 3,951 over four years at Iowa, and she led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back national championship appearances in 2023 and ’24. Clark is best known for her long-range 3-point shooting, but the rookie is also an elite passer and averaged more than seven rebounds per game in her last two college seasons.
However, Clark’s production has been volatile in preseason action. She scored 21 points in her debut against the Dallas Wings, but she shot just 6-for-15 from the field and struggled to impact down the stat sheet with two assists and three rebounds. Her facilitating ramped up in a second matchup with the Atlanta Dream, but she added just 12 points on 4-for-12 shooting to her eight boards and six assists. Clark can also be turnover-prone against elite defenders, giving up possession a combined 11 times over the preseason games.
“We really just want to make it hard, really put a lot of pressure on the ball and have high hands,” Jefferson said. “Everybody knows she’s a really good shooter, so we’re just trying to make her uncomfortable. I think it’s a team effort in everything we do, always, so the biggest thing is having our trust on the backside help. We’re just being pesky, being in everybody’s faces with high hands, talking loud and making it difficult.”
Connecticut prides itself as a defensive juggernaut in the WNBA, holding opponents to a league-best 79 points per game in 2023. All three starters in the front court averaged at least a steal per game last year, and star forward Alyssa Thomas was the defensive player of the year runner-up.
“I’m excited for all the new fans who haven’t seen them play before to be exposed to our group,” White said. “There’s a lot of hype, but they’ve played in big games before. They’ve played in the finals. This is not going to be anything new to them, but I’m excited that the basketball world that hasn’t watched the WNBA is going to see our team early in the season.”
The Sun swept Indiana in four meetings last season, but Clark is far from the only challenge on the talented young Fever roster. Reigning rookie of the year Aliyah Boston was the top overall selection in last year’s WNBA Draft, and former No. 2 pick NaLyssa Smith is poised to take another leap in her third season.
“Indiana is a team last year who, like 16 of their losses were by single digits, so they’re learning how to win. That makes a team really dangerous,” White said. “They’ve got depth and size and skill at every position, so you can’t really focus on one or two, and every one of them that returned this season is better. That’s the challenge of this league and of professionals and youth continuing to grow and follow that natural trajectory.”
Connecticut Sun vs. Indiana Fever: How to watch
Site: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Last meeting: 76-59 Connecticut; Sept. 8, 2023 in Uncasville
TV: ESPN2
Streaming: ESPN+, Disney+
