Caitlin Clark draws strong reactions after off night for Team USA

Caitlin Clark uncharacteristically struggled on Sunday during Team USA’s game against Italy. The Indiana Fever star played her worst game of the FIBA World Cup and drew strong reactions from fans for her off night.

She finished with just one point on 0-of-6 shooting, including 0-of-3 from beyond the arc. Clark added four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 18:30 minutes. Her poor outing came two days after her historic performance against China. The 24-year-old guard recorded 14 points, three rebounds, three three-pointers and 11 assists, the most dimes by a USA player in a World Cup debut.

The good news for the Americans is they survived a huge scare from the Italians, winning 55-52. Team USA kept their unbeaten record and improved to 2-0.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts during the second half against the New York Liberty.

Indiana Fever: Fans react to Caitlin Clark’s poor performance

Clark’s stats were posted on X after the game. Fans dropped strong reactions in the comments section.

Caitlin Clark vs Italy:

1 PTS
1 AST (2 TOV)
0-6 FG
0-3 3P

Rough. pic.twitter.com/4NRLvh8tTS

— StatMuse (@statmuse) September 6, 2026

“Stats are a lie. If you watched the game. They were fouling the sh** out of her and wouldn’t pass her the ball when she had open looks,” one user wrote.

“Rough shooting nights happen even to the best, she’ll be fine,” a comment read.

“Caitlin Clark will be better tomorrow,” one user said.

“Only 1 player had 10 points. Rough for the whole team,” posted another.

“She wasn’t the only one. Buekers was mediocre and Stewart was pretty bad. Actually, no one played well. That includes the coach who seems more interested in playing everyone than in finding a good combination. Also needs to run a lot more. L,” another fan commented.

“MVP per the CC crowd. Gotta start. Best PG ever. They won’t let her learn, grow, and make mistakes. It will get worse as the games get harder,” a reaction read.

Only Jackie Young scored in double digits for Team USA, registering 10 on 4-of-6 shooting. The team only converted 16 of their 56 total field goal attempts for 28.6%. Clark and Co. will look to bounce back with a stronger performance on Monday when they take on Czechia to wrap up their preliminary round games.