For the second time in as many meetings between theIndiana Feverand theChicago Sky,Caitlin Clarkwas the recipient of a flagrant foul.
Unlike the previous instance, whenChennedy Carter’s foul was decidedly not a basketball play, the contact Sunday resulted from a poor block attempt fromAngel Reesethat whacked Clark upside the head. The referees adjudicated the foul as a flagrant in real-time — Reese’s first flagrant of the season — and a competitive affair between the Fever and the Sky swiftly resumed.
Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese was called for a flagrant 1 for this play on Caitlin Clark.
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— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 16, 2024
After Indiana won the first matchup between the two teams by one point, the encore was also tightly-contested. At the time of the flagrant, the Fever led by one. Although Chicago never regained the lead, the Sky kept it close and cut the deficit to three with a Reese layup with 56 seconds to play. Clark followed that score with an assist to NaLyssa Smith to keep Indiana in front and close out the 91-83 win.
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There were no hard feelings postgame given that Reese attempted to make a play on the ball. Fever coach Christie Sides said that the officials’ correct assessment of the foul, upgrading it to a flagrant during the game instead of afterward, made it easy to move on.
Clark also credited her longtime rival Reese for her intensity on the court.
“The emotion and passion that we play with, I think people love to see that,” Clark said. “I think that’s maybe not something that was always appreciated in women’s sports and it should be. I think that’s what makes it fun. We’re competitors.”
Reese finished with five fouls, avoiding the first foul out of her WNBA career. She had 11 points and 13 rebounds, extending her double-double streak to six games to tie the rookie record.
“We were playing really hard,” Reese said when asked about her and teammate Kamilla Cardoso playing well in the first half. “I think we went up really strong a lot of times, and we didn’t get a lot of calls. Going back and looking at it, I’ve seen a lot of calls that weren’t made. I guess some people got a special whistle.”
Clark had arguably her best game as a pro in the victory, matching her career-high of nine assists to go along with 23 points and eight rebounds. She is now the first player in league history to have 200 points, 75 rebounds and 75 assists in their first 15 games, per Across the Timeline.
A day after the WNBA had a showcase for its best current rivalry betweenNew York and Las Vegas, Clark and Reese — and Indiana and Chicago as a whole — are making a case to be the premier matchup of the future. The teams have played two tight contests and feature some of the best rookies and sophom*ores in the league, highlighted by Clark and Reese. The Fever announced sellout crowds in both games against the Sky, and the atmosphere in Indianapolis Sunday looked raucous.
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The former Iowa and LSU superstars have been competing against each other on the biggest stages for some time. They were conference rivals in the Big Ten during their first two seasons, then played in what was then the most-viewed women’s basketball game of all timein the 2023 national championship game. They followed that with another viewership record in the 2024 Elite Eight, and that energy has followed them to the professional level. Their first pro meeting averaged 1.53 million viewers, the fourth-largest WNBA audience in the last two decades.
“What (Reese) has done with her platform is absolutely incredible,” Clark said. “I’ve played her for a very long time, and she’s been a tremendous player. It’s been fun getting to compete against (her). I think it’s been really good for the game. People just love seeing great matchups.”
When fans have tuned in for Chicago and Indiana this season, they’ve seen close contests and a little extra sauce as the competitive fire gets turned up a notch. As both teams fight for playoff berths over the course of the season, that intensity figures to remain at a fever pitch.
Required reading
- Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese providing fuel for a long-standing WNBA rivalry
- Caitlin Clark says Chennedy Carter doesn’t owe her an apology: ‘Basketball is competitive, I get it’
- Caitlin Clark denounces use of her name to push agendas of racism, misogyny
- WNBA rookie rankings: What’s been the secret to Angel Reese’s strong start?
(Photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
Sabreena Merchant is a women's basketball Staff Writer for The Athletic. She previously covered the WNBA and NBA for SB Nation. Sabreena is an alum of Duke University, where she wrote for the independent student newspaper, The Chronicle. She is based in Los Angeles. Follow Sabreena on Twitter @sabreenajm
