Caitlin Clark Vomits at Halftime, Returns to Lead Fever Past Atlanta Dream in Commissioner’s Cup
Caitlin Clark did something at halftime Thursday night that most professional athletes would have used as an excuse to sit out the rest of the game. She threw up. Then she came back out and helped the Indiana Fever beat the Atlanta Dream 83-71 in their WNBA Commissioner’s Cup matchup at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Clark told reporters after the game that she got sick after trying to eat some applesauce at halftime. The applesauce did not stay down. She kept playing anyway.
“I haven’t puked that much in a really long time,” Clark said, per ESPN. “But then I felt fine. I felt light. So I was running around feeling good in the second half, but I feel OK. Obviously, I’m losing my voice a little bit. But I’ll be good.”
That is one of the more honest postgame quotes you will ever hear. Clark has zero filter, which is part of why she has become the face of the league.
The numbers were still solid for Clark. She finished with 17 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. The Fever held the Dream to a season-low 71 points on just 34.3 percent shooting, which was their best defensive performance of the year. Kelsey Mitchell led the way with 25 points, and Aliyah Boston added 19 and seven.
Indiana improved to 5-4 with the win. They have been searching for a defensive identity all season, and Thursday’s effort against Atlanta felt like a turning point. The Dream are one of the more dangerous offensive teams in the WNBA, and the Fever shut them down.
For Clark personally, the win matters. She has been dealing with back issues for much of the early season, and the question of how her body would hold up in year three has been a real one. Adding a halftime vomiting episode to the mix only made the recovery story more impressive.
The Commissioner’s Cup is essentially the WNBA’s in-season tournament. It gives teams something extra to play for outside of the regular standings, and Indiana has bought into it. A win in the championship game would mean a sizable bonus pool for the players, and the Fever clearly took the matchup seriously.
The toughness factor with Clark continues to be underrated. The discussion around her game often centers on the shooting and the passing and the visibility. The fact that she plays through everything, including back pain and a stomach full of regurgitated applesauce, gets less attention than it should.
Next up for Indiana is a tough matchup against the New York Liberty. The Liberty are loaded again this season, and they have been the measuring stick for the entire league since winning the title in 2024. Clark said postgame that she expects to be fine for the game, which is exactly what she would say even if she was not.
The WNBA has gotten dramatically more competitive year over year, and Indiana is right in the middle of the contender conversation if they can stay healthy. Clark’s ability to grind through nights like Thursday is going to determine how far they can go.
The applesauce incident will be a clip on every highlight show by morning. The win will matter long after the joke fades. Clark has both happen at the same time more often than most athletes get to experience in their entire careers.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
