The rubber match went to Caitlin Clark over Angel Reese.
Even though the circumstances of Saturday’s game hardly resembled anything from the last two meetings between the two high-profile women’s basketball stars.
Clark finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Indiana Fever beat the Chicago Sky, 71-70, to earn their first home win of the WNBA season.
The game ended with Clark tossing the ball in the air to avoid a foul as the final second ticked away.
Reese contributed eight points and 13 rebounds for the Sky.
“It was great, and I think it came at a really great time,” Clark told reporters after the game. “Our fans were awesome. They were energized. You know we really didn’t shoot the ball well at all collectively as a team and you know sometimes that’s hard for the fans, like that’s what they come to see. But I think they really appreciated our great defense tonight.”
It was the first meeting as pros between Clark and Reese, whose teams went head-to-head in the 2023 NCAA Tournament final.
Reese led LSU to the national championship at Iowa’s expense that day, but Clark won the rematch when they met again one year later in the Elite Eight.
Iowa lost the national championship for the second straight year, to South Carolina, in Clark’s final game for her alma mater.
That last Clark-Reese matchup as collegians was only 61 days ago.
But a lot has changed since then, including the two rookies trying to learn how to handle more losing than they were accustomed to at their NCAA powerhouses.
The Fever are off to a 2-8 start, while the Sky are 3-4.
Clark was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
Reese was selected six picks later.
WNBA opponents have been extra physical on the defensive end with the sharp-shooting and smooth-handling Clark, which has led to her frustrations manifesting into three technical fouls.
But the Sky’s Chennedy Carter took it to another level with a seemingly dirty play to shoulder-check Clark to the floor late in the third quarter.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Clark said of the play. “It is what it is. It’s a physical game. Go make the free throw and execute on offense and I feel like that’s kind of what we did.”
The Fever led by five points when the fourth quarter started and by nine after Clark’s driving layup with 3:36 to go.
Though the Fever never surrendered the lead, the Sky closed to 68-67 with 1:35 to go.
After a defensive rebound by Reese, Marina Mabrey even had a chance to tie the score at 71-71 from the free-throw line with 6.1 seconds remaining.
But she made only 1 of 2 free throws, and the Fever ran out the clock.
It wasn’t a good shooting day for either rookie: Clark was 4-of-11 from the floor, including 2-of-9 from 3-point range, over 37 minutes, while Reese was 2-of-9 overall in 30 minutes.