After just two games in her first WNBA season, Caitlin Clark could sense a difference in physicality.

She noticed that teams were face-guarding her even when the star rookie and No. 1 overall pick didn’t have the ball — and possession had shifted away to another Fever teammate.

That only became even more amplified when Chennedy Carter knocked Clark to the ground just weeks later, and voices around the sport — from former Fever legend Tamika Catchings to Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma — commented on the league needing to protect its players and Clark being “targeted,” respectively.

But after the month-long pause for the Olympic break, Clark told reporters that she went “pretty hard in the weight room” while the Fever weren’t playing to add extra muscle that’ll help the rest of the season, with Indiana holding a playoff spot and boosting their chances with a victory over the Mercury on Friday.

Caitlin Clark attempts a shot during the Fever’s win against the Mercury on Aug. 17.AP

Caitlin Clark defends during the Fever’s win against the Mercury on Aug. 16.AP
“I’m small but I try to hold my own the best I can,” Clark told reporters after their 98-89 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, when she scored 29 points and added 10 assists. “… I don’t know, I think I’m discreetly strong. I’m never gonna be the strongest person. I know that. I try to put on some weight and I’ve been working hard in the weight room. Obviously there’s some limits to that and what I can do, obviously being in the season, but over the course of the last three weeks or so we’ve all been going pretty hard in the weight room.”

When Clark and the Fever were “playing live” in the build-up to the WNBA season resuming, she tried to back down teammate Erica Wheeler, and Wheeler, she told Clark, thought “I was gonna push you out of the way, but you’re a little stronger than I thought.”

“Yeah, don’t mess with me,” Clark responded.

The Fever continued their in-season turnaround with the win, and Clark’s adjustment from Iowa to the WNBA has contributed to that — allowing other teammates, such as Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston, to have more opportunities when defenses focus on the rookie.

Caitlin Clark led the Fever to a win in their first game back following the Olympic break.NBAE via Getty Images
She leads the WNBA in assists per game with 8.3, and after encountering some difficult stretches in games at the start of the year, Clark has topped 13 points in the Fever’s last 13 games.

Eight of those games have ended with Clark recording a double-double, too, and the month-long break — even with Clark not making Team USA’s medal-winning roster — didn’t pause that progress.

“I think it’s definitely gonna help me down the stretch to have that extra little muscle,” Clark said Friday. “… It’s definitely something I’ll continue to focus on, but more than anything I never want to lose my speed. I like being fast and sprinting.”

Clark and the Fever will attempt to win for the fourth time in their last five games when they host the Storm on Sunday.