Caitlin Clark is back on the basketball court as she represents the United States at the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico.
Clark, a superstar point guard for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, had been away from action since last July as she dealt with a variety of injury issues in her second professional season. But as she gets back into playing shape with Team USA, the former No. 1 overall pick looks as though she hasn’t missed a beat.
Through the United States’ four blowout victories in Puerto Rico, Clark is averaging 12.8 points per game on 59.3% shooting from the field and 45.0% shooting from behind the 3-point arc — leading Team USA’s stacked World Cup roster. She also leads the entire tournament field in assists per game (6.3).
Clark recorded 14 points and six assists in the United States’ 101-46 victory over New Zealand on Sunday.
While Clark has been excellent for Team USA in its dominant run thus far, it’s actually first-year player Paige Bueckers who currently leads the way in tournament MVP fan voting.
As of Monday evening, Bueckers leads Clark by more than 13,000 in the official fan vote.
Bueckers and Clark are far and away the lead vote getters so far. Each of these popular WNBA stars boast more than 145,000 fan votes. The next leading vote getter is Angel Reese, who currently has just under 20,000 votes.
Bueckers is averaging 11.0 points per game on 51.4% shooting from the field and 41.7% shooting from behind the 3-point arc. She’s also averaging 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists through her first four games.
Bueckers and Clark are both averaging just over 20 minutes per game.
The FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament MVP will be announced after the United States plays Spain in its final group game on Tuesday.
