UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT – From the jump, it was clear Caitlin Clark was in for a long night.
Connecticut guard DiJonai Carrington, typically assigned to guard the opposing team’s best guard, face-guarded Clark all the way up the floor. Her efforts helped the Connecticut Sun to a 92-71 opening night victory over the Indiana Fever.
Carrington, a fourth-year WNBA veteran, said the day before that she was going to be physical with Clark and make sure she forces her into uncomfortable shots. “She’s going to score,” Carrington said. “She’s a really good player, she’s going to get into her spots a couple of times, but we have to limit her. The first shot that she gets can’t be a wide-open 3.”
The defensive plan worked. Carrington and the Sun, owners of the league’s second-ranked defense last year, limited Clark to 20 points on 5-for-15 shooting to go along with a franchise-record 10 turnovers. “That’s what Nai does,” head coach Stephanie White said of Carrington’s lockdown efforts. “She’s an elite defender. The challenge is now doing this for longer periods of time.”
Carrington, who averaged 17.2 minutes per game in three years with the Sun, played 31 minutes on opening night—and likely would have played even more if it weren’t for her suffering calf cramps in the third quarter and missing some time. “The growth from her to be able to come into the starting lineup, be able to understand that expectation and be able to do it consistently is the challenge and she did that here tonight,” White said. “This was step one for her and she’s going to have that challenge every night on the opponent’s best perimeter player.”
But it wasn’t just Carrington who played a major role in the win. DeWanna Bonner led the Sun in scoring and finished with 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting and six rebounds. She also became the fifth-leading scorer in WNBA history on Tuesday night.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25448961/2152992809.jpg)
“It was huge, it was a goal of mine,” said Bonner. “To do it here, on this night, with this team, this group, with this crowd, our fans made it even more special and I wish my babies could have been here. To be in this league it’s hard, to stay in this league it’s even harder. To be part of that list is amazing.”
Alyssa Thomas, meanwhile, added a 13th career triple-double to her resume, further extending her lead as the owner of the most triple-doubles in league history. Thomas finished with 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting, 13 assists, 10 rebounds and three steals. She noted after the game that she was in part motivated by the desire to show the world the numbers she was putting up last year could be repeated; Thomas averaged 16.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 7.9 assists in 2023.
“I think people thought it was a fluke to put up those kinds of numbers (last year),” Thomas said. “(It was) something that was never seen before. It was unheard of. But this is my game. This is how I play each and ever night. Pretty much every game last season, I flirted with a triple-double.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25448965/usa_today_23274953.jpg)
“A lot of credit goes to my teammates, they make it easy for me. They hit the shots—I just put it where it needs to go. As much as it’s about me, it’s about them, because none of it is possible without them.”
Thrust into the starting lineup for the first time as a Sun, Tyasha Harris put up 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while Rachel Banham added 10 points off the bench. Brionna Jones, who missed most of last year with an Achilles rupture, returned from injury and scored eight points in 19 minutes while helping hold the Fever’s Aliyah Boston to just four points and four turnovers. “We certainly missed her,” White said of Jones. “Put a smile on my face to see her out there again.”
Caitlin Clark likely will fare better as she gets more comfortable as a professional basketball player and gets more familiar with the league’s physicality. She’s also will not be facing one of the league’s most elite defenses—and defenders—every single night. But the Connecticut Sun sent a reminder on Tuesday night that despite often being overlooked, they continue to be a force to be reckoned with.