INDIANAPOLIS — Christie Sides can barely get her words to come out. Her voice always has a rasp to it, but Thursday after the Indiana Fever's annihilation by the New York Liberty in their season home opener which sold out to a hyped, raucous crowd of 17,000 fans and ended in a massive fizzle, she is hoarse to the point she can barely talk.

Still, even with some of her words coming out in a faint whisper, it is obvious she is not happy. It's clear she is not happy at all with her players — or herself.

"We've got to do a better job. We've got to make the fans proud with what we put on the floor," Sides said. "And I will take it. We didn't do that tonight. And that's unacceptable."

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The Fever lost Thursday 102-66 to the defending 2023 WNBA runner-up as New York's Breanna Stewart scored 31 points and made this game of pro women's basketball look so very easy. Meanwhile, the Fever struggled with shot clock violations, foul trouble and errant shots.

"Again, I can't say it enough. I've got to find five that will get out there and defend, defend without fouling," Sides said. "And just be able to stop somebody so we can get out and run and do what we do on offense."

In Clark's much anticipated home opener, she finished with nine points, seven rebounds, six assists and three turnovers. She was 2-of-8 from the field and 1-of-7 on 3-pointers. Clark had to play most of the second half cautiously when she picked up her fourth foul just 30 seconds into the third quarter and her fifth foul with 7:30 left in the game.

With the Fever trailing 88-59 with 3:16 to play, Sides emptied her bench and sat her starters. At the same time, many fans started filing out of Gainbridge Fieldhouse where Clark's Iowa coach Lisa Bluder sat court side and Pat McAfee showed off his black Fever tank on the big screen.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Fever's 29-point deficit had expanded to 36.

"You don't win a lot of games in this league only scoring 66 points. Also, you don't win a lot of games giving up 102. So, we've got a lot to figure out," Sides said. "We are a young team and it's still a process but, at the end of the day, you have to have some pride."

A glimpse of Caitlin Clark's greatness

With 1:30 left in the third quarter, the Clark people were used to watching at Iowa came out as she drained a 3-pointer, bringing the Fever within 15 points 67-52. On the next Indiana possession, Clark was fouled and made both free throws, 67-54 Indiana.

As the Fever headed down the court on defense, Clark clapped as she guarded New York's Courtney Vandersloot. The crowd went wild as the Liberty lost the ball with 50.8 seconds left in the third quarter.

Indiana product Grace Berger was fouled by Stewart and made both free throws bringing the Fever within 11 points, 67-56 with 31 seconds left. The crowd started screaming defense as the Liberty missed their shot with a Clark rebound.

The quarter ended and Sides said she was feeling good.

"We started getting stops right then. We had a group in there that was getting stops. We were able to make some shots, but we had to get stops. We finally were doing that with that lineup. "

But then things fell apart and Sides saw all the holes in her team exposed. And she hated that for the fans.

"I just feel like tonight? We've got to do a better job of, you know we had 17,000 fans here tonight and we can't thank them enough. I mean awesome fans. It got really loud when we cut it to 11," Sides said. "We've got to make them proud. And tonight we didn't."

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides searches for answers after 0-2 start