Caitlin Clark gets double-double in USA Basketball senior national team debut
· Yahoo Sports
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — When Caitlin Clark stepped on the court for her first game in eight months, it was like she didn’t miss a beat.
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Sure, she was in a different venue, playing in Puerto Rico for the first time. She was on a different team, making her debut on the USA Basketball senior national team. She was playing an actual game for the first time since July 2025.
But Clark has been waiting for this moment, this senior national team debut, for years. And she lived up to the hype.
Clark came off the bench in her debut, checking in for the first time five minutes into the first quarter. Her first three touches on the court turned into assists, and she had three assists in three minutes. Her highly anticipated first shot of the game, a 3-pointer, bounced off the back of the hoop, then rolled into the basket.
Clark found a connection with Rhyne Howard and Monique Billings, who she ran in a rotation with, in the first half. She went 2 for 2 from the field for eight points and racked up eight assists in 10 minutes of play in the first half, without recording a single turnover.
By the end of the game, she had a double-double with 17 points on 4-of-5 shooting and 12 assists on just two turnovers, playing 20 minutes. USA beat Senegal 110-46 to open the tournament 1-0.
Clark didn’t start in her senior national team debut, playing behind multiple veteran guards like gold medal winners Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Kahleah Copper. Clark, who is coming off an eight-month injury layoff, does not have the same international experience as these players, along with the fact that these games are merely scrimmages for USA Basketball.
USA has already qualified for the World Cup, so its record in this tournament does not matter. Multiple players that will likely be on the World Cup roster, including A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, and Sabrina Ionescu are not on the qualifying roster, either.
So, USA Basketball managing director Sue Bird and coach Kara Lawson are using this tournament to evaluate their young talent and experiment with lineups and rotations.
Clark played alongside Kelsey Plum, Billings, Kiki Iriafen and Howard in the first half, then with Paige Bueckers, Kahleah Copper, Angel Reese, Rae Burrell, Billings and Iriafen in the second half.
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark stats today, USA vs Senegal score, women's basketball World Cup