Caitlin Clark and Indiana Fever beat Atlanta Dream in front of record-setting crowd of 17,575

NaLyssa Smith led the Indiana Fever with 21 points and nine rebounds, plus Kelsey Mitchell added 18 points. Additionally, Caitlin Clark scored 16 points as they beat the Atlanta Dream 91-79 in front of a capacity crowd at State Farm Arena.

17,575 fans watched Friday night’s matchup. It is now the highest attended professional women’s basketball game in franchise history. The previous record was 11,609 fans that saw the team’s inaugural game against the Detroit Shock in 2008 at Philips Arena.

There were plenty of young girls wanting to see their heroine tonight. Also, there were interested basketball fans waiting to see what the hype surrounding Clark was all about. The rookie seemingly took it all in stride.

“I’ve never played in Atlanta before,” Indiana guard Caitlin Clark said. “It’s fun going to all these new cities as a rookie and getting to play in front of their crowds. Obviously (there was) a lot of Fever gear out there, and I thought the crowd was fun. You could just feel the energy in the building tonight, and that’s what makes the basketball so fun and the game so fun for us. So I enjoyed it, and I thought we played a really solid game.”

Indiana scored a season-high 35 first-quarter points to build a 10-point lead after shooting 70% from the field. They finished the night shooting nearly 57% from the field and 52% from three-point range. 

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Dream have lost four out of their last five games. Head Coach Tanisha Wright, who was a fierce, intense, and relentless competitor when she played in the W, was at a loss for words after the defeat. Although 2022 number one overall pick Rhyne Howard was out with a left ankle injury, Wright did not mince words when describing the loss. 

“I know it’s my job to get this team to figure out how to play together and support one another,” Wright explained.

Tina Charles led all scorers with 24 points. Allisha Gray had 19 points. However, the ability to play connected basketball comes down to maintaining consistency and playing with a high level of mental toughness. 

“So you have to admit what’s going on and what’s wrong,” says Wright. Then you just have to stop talking about it and just go out and do it. That’s what we’re at. It’s not like we haven’t had these talks, but we’ve already had these discussions.”

Charles says  the players have to be honest with themselves and be honest with identifying the shortcomings. 

“We’ve already had these thoughts happening early right now,” Wright continued. “It’s just a matter of going out and doing it, being consistent at what you’re doing. And that’s our struggle, right? Our struggle is consistency.”

There is not much time for the Dream to stew over this loss. They get back on the court Sunday afternoon against the New York Liberty in College Park.