Caitlin Clark isn’t giving her opponents any more attention than is necessary.
The Indiana Fever star Clark was involved in a series of heated incidents during Tuesday’s WNBA Commissioner’s Cup game against the Connecticut Sun. Though the Fever won by a convincing 88-71 final score at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., the victory definitely did not come without drama.
In the first half, Clark had a heated moment with Sun guard Jacy Sheldon. The two got into each other’s faces, and Clark eventually pushed Sheldon away (video here).
Then in the second half, Sheldon hit Clark in the face while defending her, and Clark gave her a shove in response. Fellow Sun guard Marina Mabrey then retaliated against Clark, pushing Clark down to the ground. That incident resulted in three technical fouls as well as a flagrant foul being handed out.
Finally in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, Fever veteran Sophie Cunningham got some revenge for Clark by hitting Sheldon with a pretty hard foul. That led to another heated scuffle between the two teams, after which Cunningham, Sheldon and Connecticut’s Lindsay Allen were all ejected.
Speaking with reporters afterwards, Clark was asked about all the extracurricular activity that occurred during the game. She responded by essentially shooting the question down.
“You guys came for basketball, let’s talk about basketball,” said Clark.
“Come on now,” Clark later added. “We’re going to the Commissioner’s Cup Championship, that’s pretty exciting. Y’all wanna talk about that? Let’s talk about that.”
Indeed, the Fever advanced to the championship round of the Commissioner’s Cup (the WNBA’s version of an in-season tournament) and will now face the Minnesota Lynx for the trophy on July 1. Indiana is also now 6-5 on the season overall, which is an encouraging sign given that Clark recently missed a couple of weeks with a quad injury.
But when it comes to the Fever and the Sun, there is certainly a history of animosity there. You may recall that the two teams met in the first round of the WNBA playoffs last year. Connecticut won the best-of-three affair in a two-game sweep, and Clark notably fell victim to an eye poke in the middle of the series.
