Caitlin Clark struggled early in her WNBA debut before finishing with 20 points and 10 turnovers as the Indiana Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun 92-71 on Tuesday night.

Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, registering the 12th triple-double of her career. DeWanna Bonner added 20 points and DiJonai Carrington had 16. Carrington also was a major reason for Clark’s early offensive struggles, hounding the guard.

“Disappointed and nobody likes to lose, that’s how it is,” Clark said. “Can’t beat yourself up too much about one game.”

The NCAA’s all-time Division I scoring leader, who finished the game 5 for 15 from the field, went scoreless in the first quarter. She missed her first four shots before finally getting on the board midway through the second period.

Clark stole the ball around the foul line and drove the length of the court before laying the ball in. She later added two free throws and hit a 3-pointer with 29.9 seconds left in the first half to finish the opening 20 minutes with seven points, hitting two of her seven shot attempts. The Fever trailed 49-39 at the break.

The Fever got within 63-57 late in the third quarter on two free throws by Clark, but couldn’t get closer the rest of the way.

Clark did start heating up from the field, hitting four 3-pointers, including one from long range.

“Caitlin was able to get her some looks, able to knock them down. Our spacing was not great,” Indiana coach Christie Sides said. “Connecticut came in and punched us in the mouth tonight. We’ll be in the gym tomorrow watching a lot of video trying to figure out how not to turn the ball over 25 times.”

Clark broke the WNBA all-time record for turnovers in a debut game that was held by Cynthia Cooper-Dyke when she had nine.

Bonner moved into fifth on the WNBA’s career scoring list, moving ahead of former Phoenix Mercury teammate Candice Dupree. who finished her career with 6,895 points. Bonner passed Dupree on a layup midway through the third quarter.

“To do it here on this night with this team and this group and this crowd made it more special,” Bonner said. “It was huge and goal of mine i can check off my list. to be in this league is hard, to stay in this league is harder. To be part of that list is amazing. pat myself on the back for that one.”

Bonner, who now has 6,901 points, raised her hands to the crowd after a timeout to acknowledge the accomplishment.

RETURN OF BRIONNA

Brionna Jones played for the first time since rupturing her right Achilles tendon last June. The Sun’s All-Star center had eight points while playing just under 20 minutes.

“We certainly missed her and it put a smile on my face to see her out there again,” Connecticut coach Stephanie White said.

UP NEXT

Fever: Return to Indiana to play New York on Thursday in the team’s home opener

Sun: Host Washington on Friday.

There is no off switch for Caitlin Clark.

After garnering fame as an All-American point guard for Iowa — and becoming the NCAA’s Division I all-time scoring leader across women’s and men’s basketball — the Indiana Fever guard explained the difficult side of life in the spotlight.

“The hardest part about being Caitlin Clark? I’d say is having to feel like you’re always on,” Clark said in the ESPN+ four-part series “Full Court Press,” which premiered Saturday. “You just have bad days, and there are days where you don’t want to talk to anyone.

“But somebody comes up to you, and this is their 10-second interaction with you. So you better smile and be kind. But at the same time, it’s just like, you just want to be normal sometimes.”

The 22-year-old Clark, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft last month, and her boyfriend, Connor McCaffery were filmed while out to breakfast at The Dandy Lion in Iowa City at the time.

It was the day after Iowa’s dominant 84-57 win over Indiana on Jan. 13.

The couple was standing by the front door, waiting for a table, when multiple fans walked by and gave Clark compliments, such as, “You’re amazing,” and “You were awesome.”

One woman said, “We drove from Chicago to see you yesterday, to see the whole team.”

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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark dribbles the ball against the Dallas Wings during the first half of an WNBA basketball game in Arlington, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024.AP

Clark, an Iowa native, then stepped outside to take photos with fans.

When she and McCaffery sat down at a table to eat, another fan walked over and said, “Good game,” before giving her a high-five.

Clark’s smile quickly faded after the fan walked away and she looked somber while taking a drink of water.

“This is not the same as what it was. Me and you, we cannot go and just walk around like nobody knows who you are. That’s not the reality of the situation,” McCaffery said in the documentary. “And I think there are still moments when she realizes that, like, ‘Damn, that kind of sucks.'”

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It’s unclear when Clark and McCaffery, who currently works as a team assistant for the Indiana Pacers, got together. She went public with their relationship on social media in August 2023.

Clark’s life changed drastically after her rise to fame at Iowa, where her celebrity helped boost economy and sell out season tickets at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the first time in program history.

The sold-out crowds, which saw fans travel from across the United States to see Clark, added as much as $82.5 million to the state’s economy, according to a report from the Common Sense Institute.

Clark’s star power played a major role in the growth and dominance of women’s college basketball throughout March Madness — and it has since carried over to the WNBA.

The 2024 WNBA draft was the most-watched ever with 2.45 million viewers.

A few teams, including the Aces, Mystics and Sparks have moved arenas to accommodate fans when they play Clark and the Fever.

Some WNBA teams have increased ticket prices for games against Indiana, according to Front Office Sports.

The WNBA has also finally started a charter program so its teams can stop flying commcercial.