Paige Bueckers, left, and the Dallas Wings held off Aliyah Boston, right, and the Indiana Fever in an offensive shootout on Saturday.
INDIANAPOLIS — Saturday’s matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Dallas Wings was a 40-minute display of offensive firepower.
Both teams boast potent scoring machines, led by two of the league’s biggest stars: Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers. In the season opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Wings emerged victorious, winning 107-104 in front of a sold-out crowd.
The lead changed hands 11 times, but the Fever were often playing catch-up against the more efficient Wings. Guard Arike Ogunbowale led Dallas with 22 points, while Bueckers and Odyssey Sims each added 20. The Wings shot 52 percent from 3-point range (12 of 23) and outscored the Fever 25-12 in transition.
With seven seconds left and the Fever trailing by three, Clark had a chance to tie the game. She pump-faked from deep, sending Bueckers flying, but her open look rattled out. Clark finished with 20 points, seven assists, and five rebounds in her official WNBA return after missing most of last season with various injuries. Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell led all scorers with 30 points, and Aliyah Boston added 23.
The first round of the WNBA’s newest blockbuster series belongs to the Wings.
### ‘Caitlin Clark Effect’ Shows in Bursts
Clark admitted before the game that she missed the butterflies — that nervous churn in her gut telling her she’s ready to play. Watching from the sidelines during her injury-plagued 2025 season, there was too much calm where the storm should have been.
“There’s just a different juice inside your body when you’re putting on your uniform and you’re mentally locked in to go play a basketball game,” Clark said. “Obviously, I was excited for my teammates last year. One-hundred percent. I was their biggest fan. But it’s not the same.”
Clark struggled in the first half, following a rousing welcome during pregame introductions with a choppy performance. She had no 3-pointers, committed two offensive fouls on obvious push-offs, and showed shaky ballhandling. As time ran out before halftime, she pounded the ball in frustration and voiced something to head coach Stephanie White.
Questions remain about how close to 100 percent health she is. “We wouldn’t have played her 30 minutes if she wasn’t OK,” White said. Late in the fourth quarter, with the game tight, Clark had almost no burst to sprint back on defense, allowing an easy Wings bucket. Her multiple in-game visits to the locker room were downplayed by Indiana. “Just getting my back adjusted,” Clark said. “It gets out of line pretty quickly.”
White added, “This is going to be an ongoing thing. Not just her. We’ve had multiple players who have gone back. We don’t have the blue tent. But they’re going to go back and get adjusted and make sure the body is working.”
In the end, Clark didn’t hit a 3 in the final frame and couldn’t stop Odyssey Sims one-on-one with 35 seconds left, allowing Dallas to take a crucial five-point lead. Her clean look at a tying shot rimmed out.
