The Indiana Fever’s regular season got off to a slow start, but the team has recently turned things around. Indiana defeated the hapless Washington Mystics on Wednesday to improve to 6-10.
Star rookie Caitlin Clark finished the game with 18 points and six assists. She also recorded four steals, but debates over the game’s officiating took center stage.
Some observers took issue with the referees over their decision to not call a foul after a Mystics player appeared to whack Clark as she was driving toward the basket and going for a layup.
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During the play in question, Mystics center Stefanie Dolson reached out in an apparent attempt to block the shot. However, Dolson made contact with Clark’s arm as the ball was knocked from Clark’s hand.
Some fans argued that Dolson committed a foul because Clark’s layup attempt was negatively impacted by the contact.
“As a new watcher of the @WNBA it seems they have a severe refereeing problem. I think even @WWE refs would have caught this one,” one fan wrote on X.
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“Badly missed call by @WNBA officials; this happens too often, to many players,” another person suggested.
Clark being on the receiving end of hard fouls has been widely debated throughout the WNBA season.
Last month, Clark addressed the level of physicality she faced in the early portion of her professional basketball career.
“I think everybody is physical with me. They get away with things that probably other people don’t get away with,” Clark said on May 28 after the Fever dropped a game to the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Fever-Sky matchup on June 1 was marred by a controversial foul. Sky guard Chennedy Carter made a basket late in the third quarter. She then shifted to defense and began guarding Clark, who was attempting to get open to receive an inbound pass.
Clark never touched the ball as Carter delivered a shoulder check, which knocked the Fever star to the hardwood. Referees immediately called a foul on Carter.
“Yeah, that’s just not a basketball play,” Clark told ESPN at the end of the third quarter. “But you know, I’ve gotta play through it, that’s what basketball is about at this level. I thought we’ve been really physical, we’ve missed some bunnies around the rim, so hopefully those fall in the fourth.”
The next day, the WNBA determined that Carter’s foul against Clark was a flagrant-1 violation after reviewing the play.
This past Saturday, Angel Reese was called for a flagrant foul after she hit Clark in the head during a layup attempt. Reese said the foul was a common part of basketball games.
“A basketball play. It was a basketball play,” Reese said. “I can’t control the refs. They affected the game obviously a lot tonight.”
Clark reiterated Reese’s point after the game, saying she believed it was simply a basketball play.
“Just a part of basketball. It is what it is. Just trying to make a play on the ball and get the block. It happens,” Clark said to reporters.
Clark is averaging 16.3 points and 6.2 assists through 16 games this season.
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