SEATTLE– Caitlin Clark plans to play Wednesday night despite a stiff and sore left ankle when the Indiana Fever open a road trip in Seattle against the Storm.
Clark sprained his ankle in the first half of Monday’s loss to Connecticut but returned in the second half.
“It’s about what you would expect when it turns like this. I feel like I’ll definitely be ready to play,” Clark said. “Luckily, I’ve dealt with some ankle injuries before, so it’s nothing really out of the ordinary.”
Clark missed the last 5 1/2 minutes of the first half against the Sun after injuring his ankle on a screen. She returned in the second half and finished with 17 points and five assists, but the Fever fell to 0-4 with the 88-84 loss.
Clark said he plans to tape his ankle and hopes the adrenaline will help get rid of any lingering pain.
She also hopes a return to Seattle could trigger the fever. Wednesday’s game against the Storm will be Clark’s third time playing at Climate Pledge Arena. She played two games here with Iowa during the 2023 Women’s NCAA Tournament, including a 41-point, 10-rebound, 12-assist triple-double in the regional final against Louisville that sent the Hawkeyes to the Final Four.
Clark said the trip to Seattle seemed to be the beginning of the latest wave of notoriety and attention that has followed women’s hoops.
“I think that’s where the Iowa women’s basketball fandom really started and you started to see women’s basketball really take off,” Clark said. “I had never been to Seattle in my life and when I got here we didn’t know what to expect, we didn’t know how our fans would travel, we didn’t know a lot. But just seeing the support for women’s basketball, whether it’s us playing or other teams playing, I think that was the most important thing when I got here and realized that.
“This arena was packed. There was no open spot coming here and I felt like that weekend was definitely a step forward for women’s basketball.
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