Angel Reese’s foul on Caitlin Clark’s late third-quarter drive to the bucket was upgraded to a flagrant one foul after an on-court review during the Indiana Fever’s, 91-83, win over the Chicago Sky on Sunday.
Afterwards, Reese discussed the foul on Clark with the media.
“It’s a basketball play. I can’t control the refs. They affected the game obviously a lot tonight. So, can’t,” Reese said.
Reese then said she expects the foul to be played ad nauseam before Monday.
“I mean, I’m always going for the ball, but y’all gonna play that clip what, 20 times before Monday? So, it’s cool,” Reese said.
Caitlin Clark is fouled while driving to the basket pic.twitter.com/U9TvoFUoD3
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) June 16, 2024
What Reese said next could very well garner the bulk of the headlines, though. Reese seemed to indicate that Clark is officiated differently than the rest of the WNBA.
“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 the film, I’ve seen a lot of calls that weren’t made. I guess some people got a special whistle, but just being able to play hard as best as we can.
“I’m still proud of Kamilla going on and still getting a double-double. That’s something y’all not gonna be able to stop regardless of the referees. We’re here for a while. We’re not gonna be denied no matter what you guys can try to do, but our goal is to win and we’re gonna do whatever it takes to win,” Reese said.
For Clark’s part, she said there was nothing malicious about Reese’s foul.
“What’s going through my mind is, ‘I need to make these two free throws.’ That’s all I’m thinking about. It’s just part of basketball. It is what it is. You know, she’s trying to make a play on the ball and get the block. But, yeah, it happens. Those free throws when you have to shoot them with nobody at the line are kind of hard, so it’s a little different than having people at the line. So, I was just trying to focus on making those,” Clark said.
During the win, Clark notched her seventh game of the season with 20-plus points. Clark tallied 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. The 6-foot rookie guard added nine assists, eight rebounds and two blocks.
In the process, Clark accomplished another bit of WNBA history. Clark joined Breanna Stewart as the first WNBA rookie with 15-plus points, five-plus rebounds and five-plus assists in five games since Stewart did so in the 2016 season.
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