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The Indiana Fever made a franchise-altering decision last season when they selected Iowa guard Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. The budding star turned the team around, helping them to the playoffs for the first time in nearly 10 years.
As a result of their success, several high-end free agents wanted to team up with Clark and her teammates. Now, equipped with a complete starting lineup and a solid amount of depth, the Fever are one of the frontrunners for the WNBA Finals.
But before their season officially begins on May 17, they’ll have a trio of preseason contests to play. While two of them are run-of-the-mill exhibition games, one of them is another testament to just how impactful Clark has been during her one year in the league.
Indiana Fever preseason schedule: How to watch Caitlin Clark and company prepare for 2025 WNBA season
The Fever will begin their preseason tilt with a home matchup against the Washington Mystics. Both of these franchises sport new-look teams, as the Mystics landed three picks in the top six of the WNBA Draft. While Indiana has more experience than them, they’ll be facing a hungry team of unknown commodities that are ready to prove themselves on Day 1.
This graphic can be misleading because the Fever’s second preseason matchup will take place against a non-WNBA opponent. They’ll face off against the Brazil National Team in the first game of its kind. The matchup will be streamed on ESPN, which is a first for WNBA preseason, and it will take place at the University of Iowa’s home gym, which is the house that Caitlin Clark built. This should be a historic matchup for multiple reasons.
For the final game of the preseason, the Fever will travel down to Atlanta to take on Brittney Griner and the Atlanta Dream. With a new coach and several new players, this will be another great opportunity for this Indiana team to challenge itself before the games actually count. Atlanta was a playoff team last season, so this is the exact kind of matchup the Fever should want, a week before their opening night.
Indiana will take on their bitter rival, the Chicago Sky, in their first regular-season contest on May 17. This will be the first of five matchups between the two franchises, and the first of three home tilts at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. Clark and her team will be ready to make another playoff push, but they’ll need a stellar preseason to angle them in the right direction.
