TheIndiana Feverreached theWNBACommissioner’s Cup final with an 88-71 win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday, but it was a bad-tempered game that will likely be remembered for a few physical altercations between the players.
The main talking point came in the third quarter when Sun guard Jacy Sheldon jabbed Fever superstarCaitlin Clarkin the eye while she was defending her. Clark then turned around and was bumped again by Sheldon before pushing her away.
Connecticut’s Marina Mabrey then came charging into the scuffle and bumped Clark hard to the ground. Mabrey wasn’t ejected but instead received a technical foul along with Clark and Sheldon, who was also given a flagrant 1.
After the game, Fever head coach Stephanie White said there “wasn’t an explanation for the tech” that Clark received.
“I think it was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing,” she added. “When the officials don’t get control of the ball game, when they allow that stuff to happen – and it’s been happening all season long, it’s not just this game – this is what happens.”
After hitting a dagger from deep to put the Fever up by 20 with 3:24 remaining in the contest, Clark turned to give Sheldon and the Sun bench an earful before running back onto the court to hype up the home crowd.
The tetchy affair then came to a head with just 46 seconds remaining when the Fever’s Sophie Cunningham fouled Sheldon hard as she drove to the basket, leading to a scuffle between both sets of players that had to be broken up by staff and security. Cunningham, Sheldon and her Sun teammate Lindsay Allen were ejected for the incident.
White added of the game’s incidents: “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’ve got to get control of it, they’ve got to be better.
“I’ve seen quite a few dustups in the league so far, so I think it’s a league-wide issue. Bad officiating is bad officiating. The game has changed so much; players are faster, they’re better, they’re bigger, they’re stronger. Everybody is getting better, except the officials.”
Clark finished with a joint game-high 20 points, including hitting four of six three-pointers, to go with six assists and two steals.
Kelsey Mitchell added another 17 points for the Fever, Natasha Howard had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Damiris Dantas added 13 off the bench.
For the Sun, Tina Charles had 20 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 14 points and eight rebounds.
The final of the Commissioner’s Cup – whose games, except for the final, also count towards the WNBA regular season standings – will take place on July 1 with the Minnesota Lynx hosting the Fever.