Caitlin Clark Returns in WNBA Preseason—See Who Shined for the Fever

Caitlin Clark put her Indiana Fever jersey on for the first time since mid-July in a preseason game against the New York Liberty.

BROOKLYN—Call it a Caitlin Clark incubation for the Indiana Fever.

Clark unofficially returned to WNBA action on Saturday afternoon against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center. She had previously partaken in World Cup qualifying action with the United States’ women’s national team, where she won MVP honors in March’s San Juan competition. But Saturday marked Clark’s first time in a Fever uniform since a mid-July win over Connecticut served as her coda thanks to a series of lower-body injuries.

(Photo by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images)

Clark got the relatively awkward business out of the way fairly quickly, scoring five points within the game’s first 71 seconds. She did, however, miss her final eight under tougher defensive scrutiny from Rebekah Gardner and other New York reserves. Clark also dished out four assists and pulled in three rebounds during her 17-minute shift before the headliners’ exodus early in the third quarter.

It was probably enough to earn the metaphorical postgame trip to Shake Shack from head coach Stephanie White.

“I thought she was good,” White lauded. “I thought she didn’t force anything. She played with great intention, and everything that she did was in the flow. She was communicating at a high level. If we’re talking about the shot-making, that’s going to come. They play her differently in the W than they do in international basketball. We’ve just got to find ways to free her up, to get her some easy looks.”

CAITLIN CLARK FOR THREEEEE

Feels good to be back pic.twitter.com/F4vaPtUs2Y

— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) April 25, 2026

Clark herself foresaw some of her early struggles but appreciated the early work on the path back to prominence, especially after last season’s expanded absence.

“I think anytime you get to put on your uniform and lace up your shoes, you don’t take that for granted, especially having come off of last year,” Clark said in the prelude. “I think, for me, coming into this game, there’s just a lot of excitement, not a ton of nerves. [We’ll] get out there, run around. It’s going to be probably a little sloppy here and there for both teams. That’s kind of what preseason games are about. You give everybody some run, you figure out what lineups work, what don’t, and everybody’s just trying to get their footing again. Same goes for me, too.”

Despite Clark’s misfires, Indiana eventually won the game 109-91, establishing distance thanks in part to 16 second-half points from Shatori Walker-Kimbrough.

It Might Take More to Flush the Fever This Time

For all the talk of Clark’s returning mastery, the Fever conducted itself incredibly well after her unscheduled departure last season: led by the efforts of Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston (who did not play on Saturday), shorthanded Indiana not only won the Commissioner’s Cup in-season tournament but also fell just one win short of a WNBA Finals showing. Eventual champion Las Vegas Aces needed a Boston/Mitchell-less overtime to kick them out in a winner-take-all semifinal set.

What Clark brings to the table in her return to navy, red, and yellow is obvious, but the point guard explained what she hopes to contribute to the resilient cause in her own words prior to tip-off. All the while, she hopes that old and new teammates alike will recall the healthy stubbornness they picked up in CC absentia.

“We went through a ton of adversity last year, and I think you have to give a lot of credit for the people that were here and that have returned, and also the people that haven’t,” Clark said. “They allowed us to still be a really great team when we had quite a few injuries. I think we have to rely on what we did last year, too. We understood adversity and what it takes to get there.”

“I think we all have a belief [that] we can be there, we can get there,” Clark said. “We know that there’s going to be highs. We know there’s going to be lows, especially me going into my third year. [In] my first two years of my career, it was like everything feels like it’s really, really good, or it’s really, really bad. That’s just kind of how pro basketball works: whether it’s on the men’s side, whether it’s on the women’s side, you kind of just got to stay right in the middle. I think that’s going to be important for our team.”

Saturday’s sneak preview had some semblance of the real deal thanks to a packed Brooklyn crowd and several star attractions living up to their reputations. Indiana led 53-48 at halftime, which signaled the end for New York’s primary women. There’s obviously plenty to work on but the half-victory was perhaps the best omen one could’ve asked for in an instant test.

“I’m so pleased with our energy, with our communication, our ability to play through, I don’t really want to use the word mistakes, but when it wasn’t perfect, we were able to play through it,” White said, citing a need to “move the ball better” in her message to her top women. “That’s a tribute to these guys and their energy, effort, and focus.”

Supporting Cast Steps Up

Indiana (1-0) also basked in an 18-point performance from Mitchell, a trio of triples from Sophie Cunningham (who also returned after a prolonged medical absence), and a daring defensive debut from rookie Raven Johnson, who led all participants with eight assists while registering a pair of emphatic rejections. Primary veteran addition Monique Billings (who played with Clark during her recent American adventure) slid in well with two-way opportunities.

Billings and Johnson, the most recent No. 10 pick of the 2026 WNBA draft, were the headliners of the Fever’s transactional storm while it re-upped with familiar faces (i.e., Cunningham, Mitchell, Lexie Hull). Its competition stole the headlines from Clark’s return: the Liberty signed Satou Sabally (another Saturday sit-out) while ex-Indianapolis interior star Natasha Howard, who formed a dominant tandem with Boston, could well be the missing piece in Minnesota.

But hanging with, and besting, New York’s starters is a good start for White, Clark, and Co. in a season that is nonetheless burdened and blessed with great expectations. The effort was a solid sequel to the tone established last year, which White analyzed before continuing to place the prior tour in the rearview mirror.

Raven Johnson on her debut:#WNBA pic.twitter.com/SoeNesd1AA

— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) April 25, 2026

“I think the biggest thing is we have to control what we can control,” White said of the biggest lesson she learned last year. “There are a lot of circumstances and situations where we can, and I think our group a year ago did a really good job of that. We continued to just put one foot in front of the other, and it was next player up mentality while also embracing new players, giving grace for the journey that we had, and understanding that it’s not always going to be perfect.”

“I think the biggest takeaway from a season ago is just how connected our locker room was, and how important that is to teams,” White continued. “Connected teams are winning teams, and it’s not always going to go the way that we want it to go, individually or collectively. But maintaining that connection, being able to have honest conversations with one another, being able to hold one another accountable and be held accountable, being able to lift one another up and be each other’s biggest supporter, I think all of those things are important lessons that we learned a year ago. We wanted to be a player-led locker room, and to continue that is important.”

The Fever closes out its preseason pair on Saturday, hosting the Nigerian women’s national basketball team at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags