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By Myron Medcalf, ESPN staff writer
MINNEAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark's goal remains the same: She wants to one day compete in the Olympics.
Not only did Clarke help the Indiana Fever stay in WNBA playoff contention with a strong finish in their 81-74 win at Minnesota on Sunday, but she also did the same against the Lynx, coached by U.S. women's national team leader Cheryl Reeve.
Clark and Aliyah Boston, who recorded her 20th career double-double, both performed well for Reeve, who will lead the Olympic team heading to Paris in pursuit of the gold medal.
Clark, who was not selected for this year's national team, said Sunday that the Olympics remains her “dream.”
“It's a childhood dream to represent your country,” said Clark, who had 17 points and six assists in her first WNBA game in Minneapolis. “And, of course, for me and [Boston] “Having played on the junior varsity team, I know how much fun it is and how cool it is to wear the letters 'USA' on your chest.”
That being said, Clark acknowledged that continuing to develop as a player is his top priority.
“It gives me a purpose to work hard for, a purpose to achieve my dreams,” she said, “and I feel like I can get better and better. For me, that's my main goal and what I'm most excited about going forward.”
But before Sunday's game, Reeve seemed completely uninterested in discussing Clarke's possible future as a member of the national team.
“Why on earth would I have to answer a varsity question?” said Reeve, whose Lynx are 2-2 in their past four games without MVP candidate Napheesa Collier, who has been sidelined with a foot injury since the Fourth of July.
“I wear the Lynx, and I'm the head coach of the varsity team, but I'm not the commissioner. Does anyone want to try something else?”
The sold-out crowd at Target Center was filled with fans donning Iowa jerseys, T-shirts and other merchandise to support Clark, the former Hokies star, and Iowa fans also flooded the bars and restaurants on First Avenue in the hours before the game.
Asked before the game about the possibility of Fever supporters showing up to watch the game, Reeve joked, “I don't care,” and when pressed by a reporter added, “I'm not worried about it at all.”
When the Fever sealed the win late in the game, the crowd erupted in cheers, even as Target Center sounded like a Lynx enemy arena all afternoon.
Trailing by seven entering the fourth quarter, Clark helped the Fever go on a 14-5 run to turn the game in Indiana's favor. She had 10 points and two assists in the fourth quarter.
Clark made history, good and bad, in Minneapolis, and she said she has fond memories of going to Lynx games with her father when she was in elementary school.
Clark's six turnovers on Sunday raised her season total to 139, the most by a player in a single season in WNBA history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, but she also passed Sue Bird for second-most assists by a WNBA rookie (194).
Boston said the Fever, who are 4-2 in their past six games and currently sit as the No. 7 playoff seed in the WNBA, have found their team chemistry at the right time.
Like Clark, Boston said she hopes to one day make the U.S. Women's National Team.
“That's definitely a goal of mine,” Boston said. “Everybody dreams of being an Olympian and that's one of my goals. Coach Reeves is the head coach and I'm just going to keep working hard and do what it takes to get on that team.”
