Caitlin Clark shines as Team USA routs Senegal in FIBA qualifier - ESPN

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — With 90 seconds left in the first quarter of Team USA's game against Senegal Wednesday, Caitlin Clark launched the ball. After rattling all the way around the rim and popping up, it finally went through the hoop, giving Clark her first bucket of the night — also her first in eight months.

Clark made her debut for the senior national team in the United States' 110-64 win in its first game of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers. Playing for the first time since July, Clark finished with 17 points on 4-of-5 shooting — all 3-pointers — and 12 assists in 19 minutes.

«I thought I was going to be anxious, but I was just excited,» Clark said. «I've been preparing for this for a really long time.… There's nothing like getting to run around out there and having fun, especially with a group of people as talented as this. It came to me pretty quick, especially when I got that first 3 to roll around.»

In July, Clark was sidelined indefinitely with a right groin injury while playing with the Indiana Fever, and then a bone bruise on her left ankle prevented her from fully testing out the recovery of her groin. The Fever shut her down in September.

Clark did most of her rehab away from Indiana. She participated in Team USA's camp in December and said she felt 100%, but was unsure how quickly it would take for her to return to her natural form once she started to play again.

Against Senegal on Wednesday, Clark said it took about four minutes, when she hit her first 3-pointer, to feel like everything was second nature again. But she made an impact on the game as soon as she checked in midway through the first quarter, quickly racking up three assists on three consecutive plays. The first was a bounce pass to Monique