Caitlin Clark’s Fever home debut featured a 3-point basket

INDIANAPOLIS – It took Caitlin Clark nearly three quarters to score a 3-pointer in her first home game with the Fever.

But when she did, the No. 1 overall pick used a step-back jumper — as she did so many times at Iowa — to make the shot.

Clark’s 3 with 1:31 left in the third quarter brought the Fever within 15 points against the Liberty, and she scored seven of Indiana’s final nine points of the quarter to cut its deficit to 11 before the fourth.

Before that, however, Clark struggled for most of Thursday’s game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

She scored the Fever’s first points on a shot near the basket, but went scoreless for the rest of the first half – starting 1 of 5 from the field.

Clark also spent most of the second half in foul trouble, before his mini-run to close out the third after picking up his fourth foul.

But maybe that shot was a sign that Clark had found the beginning stages of a rhythm.

At a pace that, even to a certain extent, resembled what would happen in Iowa games.

Clark connected on 37.8% of his 3s in 2023-24 with the Hawkeyes, including many from well beyond the arc and closer to the midcourt logo.

Those shots allowed her to collect points in bunches and ultimately become the all-time leading scorer for men’s and women’s college basketball.

She made four of 11 attempts in her regular-season debut Tuesday at Connecticut.

But those marks, and the 20 points she had in total, were overshadowed by the 10 turnovers Clark committed.

Two days later, Clark reduced the errors. She had only committed three midway through the fourth quarter.

It still took time for the successful shots to follow, but when they did, when that 3-point basket fell through the net, everything seemed — at least for the moment — normal.