Gabbie Marshall, her BF Spencer Touro and Caitlin Clark

Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark made her home debut in front of a record 13,028-strong crowd, tripling the average attendance the Fever had last season. Their game against the Atlanta Dream had been rescheduled to Thursday after the New York Knicks versus the Indiana Pacers Game 3 was slotted for Friday, and the Fever delivered with an 83-80 win.

Clark registered 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the game after struggling in the first quarter. She went 4 of 12 from the floor and 2 of 9 from beyond the arc during her 31-minute appearance.

Clark’s former Iowa Hawkeyes teammate Gabbie Marshall was one of the 13,000 spectators crammed into the Fieldhouse to witness the rookie’s home debut wearing No. 22 shirts.

Marshall attended the game with her longtime boyfriend, sports and diversion graduate Spencer Touro, who also wore the Caitlin Clark No. 22 jersey, twinning with his girlfriend.

How long has Gabbie Marshall dated Spencer Touro?

Gabbie Marshall celebrated her first anniversary dating Spencer Touro last year in December with a heartfelt Instagram post dedicated to him.

“1 year with the most selfless, loving and hardworking guy I know. Thank you for making me the happiest girl in the world & pushing me to become the best version of myself every single day. I love you!!” she wrote on Instagram.

To this, Touro responded:

“Luckiest guy in the world. I love you.”

 

Touro has often congratulated Marshall on her basketball achievements with the Hawkeyes and commented with crowns on an Instagram post when she hit the 1,000 points milestone.

Caitlin Clark continues to draw record crowds

During her postgame news conference, Clark pointed out the size of the crowd (13,028) that attended a rescheduled game on a Thursday night before the season had started in earnest.

“It was a lot of fun, I thought they were loud, I thought they were into it. It was fun to see,” Caitlin Clark said. “This is a preseason game on a Thursday night and there’s 13,000 people here. I think that just shows you what it’s going to be like for us all season. It’s going to help us.”

It was one of Clark’s quieter games, and she acknowledged the fact during her postgame news conference while reflecting on her performance.

Atlanta’s players did not let Caitlin Clark settle, always harrying her, closing her down and putting multiple players on her, which affected her productivity in terms of scoring, although she dished out four assists in the first quarter.

“I don’t think I was that effective, honestly,” Caitlin Clark said. “I thought more than anything I did a really good job of passing the ball, finding my teammates. Obviously, I would have liked to have made a couple more 3s, but sometimes that’s how you shoot it.”

The league has already taken steps to deal with the interest that Caitlin Clark possesses, with teams moving some of their games to bigger venues in anticipation of a boom in ticket sales when Clark comes to town.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert already broke with tradition and authorized a $50 million annual spend on charter flights for teams to get to games easier than in the past.

The Caitlin Clark effect is not a myth.