Caitlin Clark Makes It In N.Y. ... Loses, But Plays Better And Sets WNBA Revenue Record

So far, Caitlin Clark's best two WNBA stops have been in Brooklyn, New York.

And if she can make it in New York, she can make it anywhere, right?

On April 15, the point guard became the first player picked in the WNBA Draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music by the Indiana Fever out of Iowa.

And on Saturday afternoon at Barclays Center, the Caitlin Effect was the main reason that her game between Indiana and the New York Liberty broke the WNBA record for ticket revenue at a single game at more than $2 million, according to the Associated Press. The game featured the largest attendance in Liberty history for a regular season game at 17,735 in the 19,000-seat Barclays Center.

Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark drives to the basket in the first quarter against the New York Liberty at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. ( Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports)

"That's incredible. The buzz and eyes that Caitlin has brought from Iowa to the NBA is a collective win for all," said Liberty veteran forward Breanna Stewart, the first pick of the 2016 WNBA Draft out of UConn who led all scorers with 24 points in New York's 91-80 win on ABC Saturday afternoon. 

"When I first started in the league, teams were making revenue," Steward said. "It's a long time coming."

Several celebrities showed to watch Clark, such as Billie Jean King, actor Jason Sudeikis, of "Ted Lasso" fame, former WNBA star Sue Bird (the first pick of the 2002 WNBA Draft) and 2024 national champion South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley.

"I thought the atmosphere was incredible," Clark said. "Definitely a lot of young girls here today. That was a lot of fun to see. It's fun to play in New York for the first time and play in front of this environment."

Caitlin Clark Scored 10 In 1st Quarter

The Fever dropped to 0-3 on the season, but Clark played her best game after struggling in spots in her first two. After scoring only nine points in her home regular season opener in Indianapolis on Thursday and losing to the Liberty by 102-66, she scored a pro career-high 22 points Saturday. She hit 9-of-17 shots with eight assists, six rebounds and a steal. Clark hit four of her first five shots and had 10 points in the first quarter after starting very slowly in her first two games.

She continues to have trouble with her ball handling and passing against better defenses and more physical play than she saw as a Hawkeye. She committed eight turnovers after 10 in her debut - a 92-71 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday. She also hit 4 of 10 shots from 3-point range on Saturday, and made her patented logo 3. But officials ruled that shot came after she was fouled, so it was wiped away from her statistics.

"I thought I came out and just played harder," Clark said. "I'm just trying to remind myself, like, I know this is my job now. I have fun playing this game, and I think that needs to be my focus through the course of this year."

Despite the rough start, Clark is just the fourth player in WNBA history to score more than 50 points with more than 21 assists in her first three games after Bird, Nikki McCray and Candace Parker.

CAITLIN-EFFECT TV: Indiana-Connecticut Get Rave TV Ratings

The Fever hosts the Connecticut Sun (2-0) on Monday (7 p.m., ESPN) in another nationally televised game.

Clark's last game against the Sun at Connecticut last Tuesday attracted 2.13 million viewers on ESPN2 - and was the most watched WNBA game of any kind since May 28, 2001.