Chennedy Carter Gets Rousing Ovation From Fans After Caitlin Clark Incident

The outside world was super critical of Chennedy Carter, but the home fans have her back ... and that was crystal clear in the Sky's return to Chicago, where CC received a rousing ovation in her first game since the controversy!

Carter and the Sky played against the New York Liberty on Tuesday at home -- their first game since Chennedy's body check of Caitlin Clark during last weekend's matchup.

It seems the Sky fans didn't care about the play, which was called dirty by many ... 'cause when she checked into the game, they cheered her on in a big way.

Some even gave Carter a standing ovation ... and she was very appreciative.

"It felt good just to know that Sky Town supports me," Carter said at the post-game press conference.

"Ultimately it got me going, they gave me confidence. Soon as I came in, they gave me confidence. I started feelin' it. I'm like 'Okay the crowd is with you, your team is with you' -- lets go!"

Carter -- who signed with the Chicago earlier this year -- dropped 16 points ... but it wasn't enough to beat Sabrina Ionescu and the Liberty. The Sky lost 88-75.

"We have a lot that we need to get better on," Carter said, "I gotta find a way to get us all on the same page. Sometimes we have little slippage and we can't do that."