Caitlin Clark manages just ten points in her first Fever game since Team USA Olympic snub as the WNBA rookie plays just 22 minutes in loss to the Sun

Caitlin Clark has only managed to score ten points in her first WNBA game since her Team USA Olympics snub, as the Indiana Fever star played just 22 minutes against the Connecticut Sun on Monday. 

Two days after being overlooked by the Star and Stripes for the Paris Games this summer, Clark, 21, had her fourth-fewest points of the season, going 3 of 8 from the field and 2 of 5 from behind the arc - all in the first half - in Indiana's 72-89 loss in Montville, Connecticut.

She picked up her fourth foul with 4:41 left in the third quarter and did not play in the final period. Fans in Connecticut were chanting 'We want Caitlin! We want Caitlin!' midway through the fourth. 

Clark noticeably had the ball stolen near midcourt before the halftime buzzer, as DiJonai Carrington, who had a season-high 22 points, raced the other way for a layup that barely beat the buzzer to give Connecticut a 55-35 lead. Clark also air-balled a floater while left wide open in the paint midway through the third.

Connecticut (10-1), which has won three games against Indiana (3-10) this season, hasn't lost to the Fever since July 3, 2021. The Sun became the second team in the WNBA this season to reach 10 wins and the Fever are the second squad to lose 10 games. 

Clark, who's helped the league break its attendance and viewership records since being drafted as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft in April, broke her silence on her omission from the USA Olympic women's basketball roster on Sunday, insisting that she'll be 'rooting' for the team 'to win gold'.

'I'm excited for the girls that are on the team,' she said told reporters in Fever practice. 'I know it's the most competitive team in the world and I know it could've gone either way, me being on the team or me not being on the team.

'I'm excited for them, gonna be rooting them on to win gold. I was a kid that grew up watching the Olympics, it'll be fun to watch them. ... Honestly, no disappointment. I think it just gives you something to work for. It's a dream, hopefully one day I can be there. I think it's just a little bit more motivation. You remember that and hopefully when four years comes back around, I can be there.'

Clark's exclusion prompted a flurry of debate, with the US team reportedly including an array of heavy hitters, including MVPs A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. But her response to not making the cut was praised by fans, who labelled it as 'classy'.

The point guard, who is also the NCAA's Division I's all-time scorer, is averaging 16.8 points, 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game thus far in her rookie season.

Clark, who said she grew up watching the nine-times Olympic gold medal-winning US team, said she was informed before the report went public that she had not made the team.

'They called me and let me know before everything came out, which was really respectful of them and I appreciated that,' Clark told reporters.

'They did the same for every girl that made the team or every girl that didn't make the team. There's a lot of players in the Olympic pool, so it wasn't like I was the only one they had to call. They had to make quite a few calls.'

The six-foot sharpshooter, who put up 30 points in the Fever's 85-83 win over the Washington Mystics on Friday, said there were upsides to the Olympic break.

'It's going to be a great month for my body to, you know, just get rest, get healthy and just get a little time away from basketball and the craziness of everything that's been going on,' Clark said.