Caitlin Clark is certain she will return even stronger next season after the Connecticut Sun beat the Indiana Fever 87-81 to end her hopes of finishing her rookie year with a WNBA Championship title.

The 22-year-old, selected as 2023’s number one overall draft pick from the University of Iowa, set regular-season records for assists (337), points by a rookie (769) and three-pointers by a rookie (122) in her debut campaign.

She contributed 25 points and nine assists as she played every minute of game two in the first-round play-off series but was powerless to stop the Sun from clinching the best-of-three contest 2-0.

The Sun will face the Minnesota Lynx in the play-off semi-finals while Clark will begin her off-season.

“The fun part is I feel like I’m just scratching the surface, and I’m one that’s nit-picking every single thing I do,” said Clark.

“I know I want to help this franchise get even better, help my team-mates get even better, and I know there’s a lot of room for me to continue to improve.

“I feel like I could continue to get a lot better, and before we know it, I’m sure we’ll all be back here and ready for the next year.”

The Fever, needing to win in Connecticut to keep the series alive, trailed by 14 points in the fourth quarter but levelled the game with just over two minutes left.

However the Sun, led by 19 points and 13 assists from Alyssa Thomas, retook the lead in the closing stages to progress to the last four.