The Indiana Fever star, whose previous games against Washington have been played in bigger arenas, packed the intimate CareFirst Arena on Monday.
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As fans trickled out of CareFirst Arena, more than half an hour after the final buzzer sounded on the Washington Mystics’ loss to the Indiana Fever on Monday, several dozen people gathered along the edge of the loading dock, waiting for the night’s hero to head to the bus.
Fever star Caitlin Clark would have had to traverse several dumpsters and a high wall to greet those fans, but that didn’t stop them from hoping. For those who came to see Clark at the smallest building she’s played in during her WNBA career, the chance of an interaction was too good to pass up.
The Clark factor was a subplot to the evening, a palpable undercurrent but not the main focus — until Clark hit a three-pointer from 31.76 feet out, nearly 10 feet beyond the arc, with 1.2 seconds left to lift the Fever to the 78-76 win.
Four rows up, at the other end of the 4,200-seat arena, one of the many fans decked out in Clark’s No. 22 stood up and raised a poster board sign over her head.
“From the logo, shooters gon’ shoot, MVP in the DMV,” it read, seemingly prescient after Clark hit one of her trademark deep jumpers.
“I think sometimes we take great players, and certainly generational talent, for granted,” Indiana Coach Stephanie White said after the game. “What she did was incredible for us. She’s going to have many more moments like that. I know she is. And we needed this one tonight.”
In her third year, Clark is still trying to find her stride after missing much of last season with multiple injuries. Before Monday’s game, she had to answer for the growing criticism of her emotional on-court behavior. A sideline argument she had with White went viral in late May, and the microscope of stardom has long zeroed in on everything Clark does — for better and for worse.
“I don’t think I would be as good of a player if I was very stoic and straight-faced all the time,” Clark said. “… The fire and the passion, that’s what makes me, me.”
Two years ago, the Fever’s games in Washington were moved to Capital One Arena, which has nearly five times the capacity of CareFirst Arena. Clark’s first trip to D.C. in June 2024 drew a crowd of 20,333, and her second trip that September set a WNBA attendance record with 20,711 fans on hand.
Last summer, with Capital One Arena undergoing renovations, the Mystics moved both home games against Indiana to the 11,000-seat CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. Clark, who played just 13 games for the Fever all season, didn’t take the court in either meeting.
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The Mystics declined to comment on the decision to keep Monday’s game at CareFirst Arena. Capital One Arena is unavailable because of another renovation-filled summer, but none of the team’s games were moved to Baltimore or EagleBank Arena at George Mason, as several were last year.
The lone game moved out of CareFirst Arena is at Capital One Arena against the Chicago Sky in late September, after the renovations wrap up for the summer. It was probably moved in anticipation of an Angel Reese-driven ticket sales bump, though the Maryland native and former Terrapin was traded to the Atlanta Dream in April.
The crowd’s energy was intense down the stretch, as the Mystics went on a run led by a series of threes from Georgia Amoore and key baskets from both Lauren Betts and Sonia Citron to pull within two points — but Clark wasn’t the focus of the animation.
It was, instead, the fervor of a home crowd watching its scrappy young team erase a deficit.
“Obviously super unfortunate the way the game ended, but I’m really proud of our fight,” said Michaela Onyenwere, who had a season-high 17 points as the Mystics erased a 17-point deficit. “… To lose to a team like that, playing a lot better than they have in the first part of the season, to lose by two in that fashion is disappointing, but I’m proud of the fight.”
When Clark missed both of her free throws with 31 seconds left and the Mystics up 74-73, the boos were thunderous.
But when Clark’s late three — a buzzer-beater, for all intents and purposes — sailed through, the resulting wall of noise made clear just how many Fever fans were in the crowd.
Clark was mobbed by her teammates when the final horn sounded. Her jubilation was obvious. Then, as she walked toward the locker room, she stopped to sign autographs at the edge of the court for her supporters, through all the noise.
“I don’t know that the noise is ever going to be quiet,” White said. “This is what Caitlin does. She makes big shots, and she has big moments.”
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