Indianapolis - Indiana's fever kicked off Saturday's season, beating Chicago Sky, a triple-double for Caitlin Clark, a career milestone for fever rookie Dewanna Bonner, a kerfuffle between Clark and Angel Reese of the Sky. Talk about a full opening day.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which was packed with 17,274 fans, saw Fever beat Sky 93-58, the second biggest win gap in franchise history. Clark was last season’s Rookie of the Year and the choice for all WNBA first teams, and after she was 17 years old, she won her third triple-double. She scored 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, plus 4 blocks.

Still, there will be a lot of attention in the third quarter. Clark hopes to stop Reese from getting a wide layup and attempts to strip her of the ball and is asked to foul. Reese fell to the ground and stood up to chase Clark, who walked away.

Aliyah Boston, of Indiana, tried to separate the two players and he picked up a technique that she didn't know until the media was asked about the game.

Boston finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks, then was surprised by the technology. Clark told her: "I got it for you, don't worry." Regarding the $200 fine.

As for the overall incident - Clark's foul was upgraded to blatant 1 - she said she was playing, replay showed.

"Let's not do anything," Clark said. "I'm not sure what the referees saw to upgrade it; it's at their discretion after they watched what happened in the script and what happened later.

"It's a foul to put them on the free throw line instead of giving up two points. That's the truth. I'm not trying to do anything malicious."

After the game, a swimming pool reporter asked that Captain Roy Gulbeyan explained the officer's reasoning.

"The foul (by Clark) reached the blatant 1 standard to end, impact and follow to extend the left hand to Reese's back, which was considered to be an unnecessary contact by not a legal basketball game. After the foul, after the foul, there was a physical technique on the boston, which was verbal technique on Reese."

In a brief post-Sky press conference, Reese scored 12 points and 17 rebounds - speaking of the foul: "Basketball game. The referee is done. Keep moving forward."

Last season, Reese and then-Sky player Chennedy Carter were asked to blatantly foul the match against Clark in two different games. However, the foul against Carter was not upgraded until the next day.

Both Clark and Rees downplay any personal competition between them. But their fan base has been in conflict since they met in the 2023 NCAA final, with Reese's LSU squad defeating Clark's Iowa State. Clark was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, with Reese ranked seventh.

Fever and Sky played five times in the regular season; their next game was June 7 at the Chicago United Center.

Indiana's Stephanie White started her second training fever, happy with her team's defensive performance and the chemistry of the fever before and after the incident, involving Rees and Clark.

"No one will have anything easy for us; we will be a tough defensive team," White said. "I think it's also a clear ball. One of our points is that we can't give up'. So you'll feel us."

"I'm proud of this group. We have a lot of young players, we have a lot of veterans. From an execution perspective, we have the moment when we have the opportunity to grow from a psychological farming perspective... I feel like that's the moment when we get together and we use it to drive us."

One of the veterans with fever is Bonner, a newbie to Indiana this season, but her 16th year in the WNBA. Bonner scored seven points on Saturday and ranked third in the league with scores (7,489), trailing retired outstanding Diana Taurasi (10,646) and Tina Charles of Connecticut (7,696).

Bonner and Seattle's Alysha Clark are the oldest active players in the WNBA. Bonner said Saturday's atmosphere at the arena and the hugs of fever fans made her special to her, her twin daughters in the game.

"It was definitely a perfect opening day," Bonner said, "Well, she signed with Indiana after playing in Connecticut and Phoenix, as a free agent, where she won two championships with Taurace in 2009 and 2014. I think I was a little shocked."

"I always say I've had the greatest game ever at Diana. I have a blueprint on how to stay in this league; she's been doing it for 20 years."

Clark is just her second season, ranking first in her third season. But both helped reverse the franchise. They combined with defender Kelsey Mitchell, which was the first time since 2016 that relapsed in the playoffs since last year, helped the team attract free agents like Bonner and Natasha Howard, who scored 15 points with Mitchell on Saturday.

"It's a great first win, but we have 43 games left to go," Boston said. "So, for us, it's just making sure we lock in, re-watch the game and see what we need to do."