WNBA rookie sensation Caitlin Clark admitted her excitement over playing against the Aces in Las Vegas.
Despite suffering a 99-80 beatdown in the hands of the reigning WNBA champions on May 26, Clark relishes the opportunity to play in under the bright lights of Sin City once more.
While their first meeting was hosted at Michelob ULTRA Arena, the highly-anticipated rematch will take play at T Mobile Arena and is expected to draw an eruptive audience on Tuesday.
‘Yes, I’m excited,’ Clark said during media availability. ‘Obviously, a different venue than when we were here last time. It’s obviously fun going to all these different places and getting to play in all these new venues and new arenas.’
‘I just expect the crowd to be real big, it’s sold out,’ she continued. ‘I know it’s gonna be a great environment and a really fun game. Hopefully we come out prepared and ready to play, even though the environment’s gonna be really great.’
Caitlin Clark told media member she is excited to play against the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday
The Aces beat Clark and the Indiana Fever, 99-80, in their first meeting on May 26 in Sin City
Aside from being the first showdown between the league’s most dominant team and their newest star, the May 26 game was also the first WNBA meeting between Clark and former Iowa teammate Kate Martin.
After Clark was shutdown and held to eight points by the Vegas defense, Martin came off the Aces bench and dropped 12 in their victory.
Clark parlayed a slow scoring night with seven assists and five rebounds. Meanwhile, Martin got seven boards and a block.
‘I’m just excited,’ Clark said of playing against Martin. ‘These are opportunities you don’t take for granted. This league is so hard, you never know at any moment it could be over for you. It’s harder to stay in this league than be in this league so not taking that for granted.’
‘I know both of our families will be here too, and our college coaches, so it’s a lot of fun for them as well.’
The game will also boast Clark’s second WNBA matchup against Iowa teammate Kate Martin
In their first game, the Las Vegas defense shut Clark down and held her to just eight points
The Aces have won the last two WNBA championships and hold a 10-6 record this season
When asked about the task at hand, Clark said having more games and getting repetitions will be the key to the Fever’s success on Tuesday. However, she admitted how challenging the contest will be.
‘We’ve been able to get some games under our belt,’ Clark shared. ‘We came here last season off a back to back, which was really tough. But they’re two-time defending champions for a reason.’
‘It’s gonna be a hard game for us but you come out here and you compete as hard as you can. You go into every single game believing you can win and that’s certainly the mindset we approach every game with.’
Clark and Indiana have some momentum on their side after coming back to beat a strong Phoenix Mercury team on Sunday.
Clark had 15 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists in a win over Phoenix on Sunday
The Fever came back and rallied to break a two-game losing streak with an 88-82 win
Despite playing with migraine issues, Clark tallied 15 points and was a rebound and assist away from a triple-double. Nevertheless, the Fever pulled away with an 88-82 victory and gained praise from their opponents.
‘I thought we did a lot of things very well,’ Clark said of their performance. ‘At one point, we were down 15 [points], to be able to come back from that shows a lot of resiliency.’
‘They’re gonna go on runs, they’re gonna get the lead up points, they might be up 10, 15 again but I think it just shows us our confidence,’ she added about the Aces. ‘We’re always in the game, always on the run, staying together and being a collective unit is something we’ve improved on a lot.’
The Fever are 8-12 nearly halfway through the season and won five of their last seven. On the other hand, the defending champs are 10-6 behind A’Ja Wilson’s 26 points per game while shooting 51.1 percent from the field.
