By CNN
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Both Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have been at the forefront of the explosion of popularity in women’s basketball over recent years – particularly on the collegiate level.
Between their stellar play, expanding marketing opportunities and on-court rivalry, they have helped bring about a new wave of interest into the sport.
After their drafting to the WNBA earlier this year, that interest has transferred to the professional sphere, with the two players already making noise in the league.
And on Saturday, Clark and Reese will play against one another for the first time in the WNBA.
Here’s everything you need to know.
How to watch
Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever and Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky will play on Saturday, June 1 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Tip off will take place at 12 p.m. ET with the action being shown on ESPN and WNBA League Pass.
Meeting in the big time
Ever since Clark and Reese came face-to-face in the 2023 women’s basketball national championship game, the pair’s destinies have seemed intertwined.
Clark’s Iowa and Reese’s LSU played for a national title, with LSU coming out on top to claim the crown.
But the game was remembered more widely for a gesture directed at Clark from Reese near the end of the game.
Reese could be seen moving her open hand in front of her face – popularized by WWE star John Cena to mean “you can’t see me” – before pointing to her ring finger in a gesture some interpreted as a reference to the place her newly acquired championship ring might sit. Clark had made a similar gesture to another player earlier in the tournament.
While both players have buried the hatchet long ago, it was a moment which caused plenty of discussion and vaulted women’s college basketball into the mainstream.
Since then, Clark became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history, both made it far in the NCAA tournament – with Iowa falling at the last hurdle to South Carolina – and both have been drafted to the WNBA. Clark was the first pick in the 2024 draft to the Fever and Reese was the seventh pick to the Sky.
Both teams have had difficult starts to the season, with the Fever sitting at 1-8 and Chicago at 3-3.
Clark has had a rollercoaster beginning to life in the WNBA, averaging 17.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. However, the 22-year-old does lead the league in turnovers per game at 5.7.
Reese is averaging 11 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game so far this year for the Sky.
Reese’s fellow rookie big Kamila Cardoso has missed the last few games with a shoulder injury, but the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft could be in line for a return to action on Saturday against the Fever.
Saturday’s game will be the opening encounter of the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup, the WNBA’s annual in-season tournament.
Teams will compete for a prize pool of $500,000 in the fourth edition of the Commissioner’s Cup, which the WNBA describes as providing “added incentive and increased interest for players and fans alike.”
All games in the tournament are part of a team’s 40-game schedule and count toward their regular-season win-loss record. The championship game will be played on June 25.
