As WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark continues to be a target, her coach says the league’s officiating needs to respond.
A Tuesday night game between Clark’s Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun devolved into a game of pushing and shoving after Sun guard Jacy Sheldon poked Clark in the eye, which was followed up by two Sun players slamming Clark to the floor. Officials handed out fouls, but no ejections.
Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White said that from the get-go, the game was heading for a violent collision, something obvious to everyone but the officials.
“I think it was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing, right?” White said, according to the Indianapolis Star.
A BIG dust up between the Fever and Sun as Jacy Sheldon pokes Caitlin Clark in the eye, then Clark reacts with a shove.
A lot more people get involved, and Marina Mabrey knocks CC to the ground.
Officials are reviewing. pic.twitter.com/ossV4kU6DV
— Chloe Peterson (@chloepeterson67) June 18, 2025
“When the officials don’t get control of the ballgame, when they allow that stuff to happen, and it’s been happening all season long … you’ve got competitive women who are the best in the world at what they do, and when you allow them to play physical, and you allow these things to happen, they’re going to compete, and they’re going to have their teammates backs,” she said.
“It’s exactly what you expect out of fierce competition. I started talking to the officials in the first quarter, and we knew this was going to happen. You could tell it was going to happen. So they got to get control of it. They got to be better,” she said.
White noted that from her vantage point, “Everybody’s getting better, except the officials.”
Do you ever watch women’s basketball?
“Players are faster, they’re better, they’re bigger, they’re stronger,” White said. “They’re as good as they’ve ever been there, as athletic as they’ve ever been. The game is fast. Now, things are happening quickly,” she said.
As beating up on Clark continues to be a WNBA folkway, White said, “So we got to find a way to remedy it. I mean, you’ve heard every coach talk about it, so I don’t know what the answer is.”
The 88-71 Fever win came after multiple fouls were called in the Clark incident.
Clark made it clear she was not intimidated when she gave the Connecticut bench a glare after hitting a three-pointer, then revved up the crowd as she exited the game with four minutes to go.
“I was just excited. I made a shot, my first three in the second half,” Clark, who finished with 20 points, said.
“At the end of the day, I’m here to play basketball, and that’s my job. That’s what I’m gonna do. I was excited. Honestly, the review took too long for me. I wanted to get playing basketball again, and that’s exactly what I did the rest of the third quarter,” she said, referring to the review when referees decided who would be slapped after Clark was poked.
“I made all three free throws, and then I, you know, it was a tough three. I was excited about a three. And honestly, I got to give our crowd a lot of credit, too. I thought they were tremendous,” she said.
Another dust up, this time between Jacy Sheldon and Sophie Cunningham.
Cunningham fouled Sheldon, then Sheldon reacted, pushing Cunningham into the crowd. pic.twitter.com/9eFa50sSjA
— Chloe Peterson (@chloepeterson67) June 18, 2025
With 46 seconds left to play, Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham grabbed Sheldon’s head while the Connecticut player was heading for a layup, sparking a fight that included the fans.
Sports Illustrated noted that in addition to playing the role of enforcer, Cunningham had some personal history with Sheldon, having suffered a chipped tooth in a collision with Sheldon the last time their teams met.
Sophie Cunningham posted this after the HEATED victory vs. the Sun 😂
(via @sophaller / IG) pic.twitter.com/WiKBcrsC1R
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 18, 2025
“While one could argue Cunningham shouldn’t have taken matters into her own hands and retaliated for the Clark incident, one could equally argue that the refs absolutely let the game get out of the control,” SI’s Kristen Wong opined.
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