With a week to go before the start of their regular season schedule, the Indiana Fever improved to 3-0 in the preseason with an 81-76 win over the Atlanta Dream on Saturday.
Caitlin Clark, last year’s WNBA Rookie of the Year, scored 13 points and added seven assists and six rebounds. At one point, she hit a 3-pointer, and right afterward, Dream rookie Te-Hina Paopao answered with a triple of her own.
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Paopao, who was the No. 18 pick in last month’s draft out of South Carolina, commented on that sequence afterward.
“I was kind of mad that she scored that three on me,” she said. “So I knew I had to get that lick back and that’s what I did.”
Fans had a variety of reactions on Instagram.
“Pao Pao is so lovable 🔥🔥🔥” one fan wrote.
“CC 🐐” another fan wrote.
“Beautiful both ways ladies all ballers @wnba,” another fan wrote.
“That shove w/ extention is insane,” a fourth fan commented. “Of am I wiling?”
“So happy people are comparing the 3’s #teamnopushoff” a fifth fan wrote.
“Everyone complaining bout the push off as if Clark isn’t the better player by far lol,” another fan wrote.
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Clark and Paopao have some history with each other. Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes faced off against Paopao’s Gamecocks in the 2024 women’s national championship game, with the Gamecocks prevailing by 12 points.
Paopao averaged 11.0 points a game and shot an incredible 46.8% from 3-point range, which led all of Division I women’s basketball. This past season, she put up 9.6 points a game, although her 3-point accuracy dropped to 37.1%.
South Carolina Gamecocks guard Te-Hina Paopao (0) drives past UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5). Jeff Blake-Imagn Images
Just weeks ago, she took South Carolina back to the national title game, where it got blown out by UConn.
Clark, of course, took all of women’s basketball by storm in 2024, her final season at Iowa. She became the all-time leading career scorer in NCAA history among both women and men, and once she entered the WNBA, she generated an incredible surge in interest in women’s basketball.
Related: Sue Bird’s Partner Megan Rapinoe Sends Strong Message on Caitlin Clark
