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Caitlin Clark Finishes with 20 Points as Indiana Falls to Connecticut in WNBA Opener

The NCAA’s all-time Division I scoring leader, who finished the game 5 for 15 from the field, had 10 turnovers and went scoreless in the first quarter. - The AP
The NCAA’s all-time Division I scoring leader, who finished the game 5 for 15 from the field, had 10 turnovers and went scoreless in the first quarter. - The AP
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Caitlin Clark Finishes with 20 Points as Indiana Falls to Connecticut in WNBA Opener

The NCAA’s all-time Division I scoring leader, who finished the game 5 for 15 from the field, had 10 turnovers and went scoreless in the first quarter. - The AP
The NCAA’s all-time Division I scoring leader, who finished the game 5 for 15 from the field, had 10 turnovers and went scoreless in the first quarter. - The AP

Caitlin Clark struggled early in her WNBA debut before finishing with 20 points as the Indiana Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun 92-71 on Tuesday night.

Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, registering the 12th triple-double of her career. DeWanna Bonner added 20 points and DiJonai Carrington had 16. She also was a major reason for Clark's early offensive struggles, hounding the guard.

The NCAA’s all-time Division I scoring leader, who finished the game 5 for 15 from the field, had 10 turnovers and went scoreless in the first quarter. She missed her first four shots before finally getting on the board midway through the second period, The AP reported.

Clark stole the ball around the foul line and drove the length of the court before laying the ball in. She later added two free throws and hit a 3-pointer with 29.9 seconds left in the first half to finish the opening 20 minutes with seven points, hitting two of her seven shot attempts. The Fever trailed 49-39 at the break.

The Fever got within 63-57 late in the third quarter on two free throws by Clark, but couldn't get closer the rest of the way.

Clark did start heating up from the field, hitting four 3-pointers, including one from long range.

Bonner moved into fifth on the WNBA's career scoring list, moving ahead of former Phoenix Mercury teammate Candice Dupree. who finished her career with 6,895 points. Bonner passed Dupree on a layup midway through the third quarter. Bonner, who now has 6,901 points, raised her hands to the crowd after a timeout to acknowledge the accomplishment.

Brionna Jones played for the first time since rupturing her right Achilles tendon last June. The Sun's All-Star center had eight points while playing just under 20 minutes.

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Keys Upsets Swiatek, to Face Sabalenka in Saturday’s Final

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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Keys Upsets Swiatek, to Face Sabalenka in Saturday’s Final

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

When Madison Keys finally finished off her 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) upset of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in a high-intensity, high-quality Australian Open semifinal on Thursday night, saving a match point along the way, the 29-year-old American crouched on the court and placed a hand on her white hat.

She had a hard time believing it all. The comeback. What Keys called an “extra dramatic finish.” The victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who'd been on the most dominant run at Melbourne Park in a dozen years. And now the chance to play in her second Grand Slam final, a long wait after being the 2017 US Open runner-up.

“I’m still trying to catch up to everything that’s happening,” said the 19th-seeded Keys, who will face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, for the trophy Saturday. “I felt like I was just fighting to stay in it. ... It was so up and down and so many big points."

Just to be sure, Keys asked whether Swiatek was, indeed, one point from victory. Yes, Madison, she was, while serving at 6-5, 40-30, but missed a backhand into the net, then eventually getting broken by double-faulting, sending the contest to a first-to-10, win-by-two tiebreaker.

“I felt like I blacked out there at some point,” Keys said, “and was out there running around.”

Whatever she was doing, it worked. Keys claimed more games in the semifinal than the 14 total that Swiatek dropped in her five previous matches over the past two weeks.

Sabalenka beat good friend Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 earlier Thursday. Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, can become the first woman since 1999 to complete a threepeat.

"If she plays like this,” the 11th-seeded Badosa said, “I mean, we can already give her the trophy.”

Keys might have something to say about that.

Still, Sabalenka won her first major trophy at Melbourne Park in 2023, and she since has added two more — in Australia a year ago and at the US Open last September.
The last woman to reach three finals in a row at the year’s first Grand Slam tournament was Serena Williams, who won two from 2015-17. Martina Hingis was the most recent woman with a threepeat, doing it from 1997-1999.
“I have goosebumps. I’m so proud of myself,” Sabalenka said.
Swiatek had not lost a single service game since the first round, but was broken three times by Keys in the first set alone and eight times in all.
That included each of Swiatek’s first two times serving, making clear right from the get-go this would not be her usual sort of day. And while Swiatek did eke out the opening set, she was overwhelmed in the second, trailing 5-0 before getting a game.
This was the big-hitting Keys at her very best. She turns 30 next month and, at the suggestion of her coach, former player Bjorn Fratangelo — who also happens to be her husband — decided to try a new racket this season, an effort both to help her with generating easy power but also to relieve some strain on her right shoulder.
It’s certainly paid immediate dividends. Keys is now on an 11-match winning streak, including taking the title at a tuneup event in Adelaide.
She was good enough to get through this one, which was as tight as can be down the stretch.
“At the end, I feel like we were both kind of battling some nerves. ... It just became who can get that final point and who can be a little bit better than the other one,” Keys said. “And I’m happy it was me.”