{"id":3435,"date":"2026-06-10T09:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T09:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3435"},"modified":"2026-06-10T09:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T09:05:24","slug":"as-mystics-stick-with-their-cozy-home-fans-see-caitlin-clarks-magic-up-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3435","title":{"rendered":"As Mystics stick with their cozy home, fans see Caitlin Clark\u2019s magic up close"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Indiana Fever star, whose previous games against Washington have been played in bigger arenas, packed the intimate CareFirst Arena on Monday.<\/strong><\/p>

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Caitlin Clark at CareFirst Arena on Monday. (Jess Rapfogel\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

As fans trickled out of CareFirst Arena, more than half an hour after the final buzzer sounded on the Washington Mystics\u2019 loss to the Indiana Fever on Monday, several dozen people gathered along the edge of the loading dock, waiting for the night\u2019s hero to head to the bus.<\/p>\n

Fever star Caitlin Clark would have had to traverse several dumpsters and a high wall to greet those fans, but that didn\u2019t stop them from hoping. For those who came to see Clark at the smallest building she\u2019s played in during her WNBA career, the chance of an interaction was too good to pass up.<\/p>\n

The Clark factor was a subplot to the evening, a palpable undercurrent but not the main focus \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Four rows up, at the other end of the 4,200-seat arena, one of the many fans decked out in Clark\u2019s No. 22 stood up and raised a poster board sign over her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the logo, shooters gon\u2019 shoot, MVP in the DMV,\u201d it read, seemingly prescient after Clark hit one of her trademark deep jumpers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think sometimes we take great players, and certainly generational talent, for granted,\u201d Indiana Coach Stephanie White said after the game. \u201cWhat she did was incredible for us. She\u2019s going to have many more moments like that. I know she is. And we needed this one tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her third year, Clark is still trying to find her stride after missing much of last season with multiple injuries. Before Monday\u2019s 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 \u2014 for better and for worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I would be as good of a player if I was very stoic and straight-faced all the time,\u201d Clark said. \u201c… The fire and the passion, that\u2019s what makes me, me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Clark’s previous games in Washington have been played at bigger arenas. (Jess Rapfogel\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Two years ago, the Fever\u2019s games in Washington were moved to Capital One Arena, which has nearly five times the capacity of CareFirst Arena. Clark\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t take the court in either meeting.<\/p>

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The Mystics declined to comment on the decision to keep Monday\u2019s game at CareFirst Arena. Capital One Arena is unavailable because of another renovation-filled summer, but none of the team\u2019s games were moved to Baltimore or EagleBank Arena at George Mason, as several were last year.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The crowd\u2019s 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 \u2014 but Clark wasn\u2019t the focus of the animation.<\/p>\n

It was, instead, the fervor of a home crowd watching its scrappy young team erase a deficit.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously super unfortunate the way the game ended, but I\u2019m really proud of our fight,\u201d said Michaela Onyenwere, who had a season-high 17 points as the Mystics erased a 17-point deficit. \u201c… 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\u2019m proud of the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Clark celebrates with Lexie Hull after draining the game-winning three pointer on Monday. (Jess Rapfogel\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

When Clark missed both of her free throws with 31 seconds left and the Mystics up 74-73, the boos were thunderous.<\/p>\n

But when Clark\u2019s late three \u2014 a buzzer-beater, for all intents and purposes \u2014 sailed through, the resulting wall of noise made clear just how many Fever fans were in the crowd.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know that the noise is ever going to be quiet,\u201d White said. \u201cThis is what Caitlin does. She makes big shots, and she has big moments.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Ahead of World Cup, Mexico striker Raul Jimenez fixes club future by signing for Wolves again<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, whose previous D.C. games have been played in bigger arenas, packed the Washington Mystics’ intimate CareFirst Arena on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAs Mystics stick with their cozy home, fans see Caitlin Clark\u2019s magic up close - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3435\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As Mystics stick with their cozy home, fans see Caitlin Clark\u2019s magic up close - 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