Heavy on Fever
Angel Reese Has Blunt Message After Caitlin Clark’s Controversial Foul
Reese of the Chicago Sky takes a hard foul from Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever.
Angel Reese was in no mood to talk about Caitlin Clark‘s flagrant foul on her in the Chicago Sky‘s dispirited 93-58 loss to the Indiana Fever in their WNBA season opener on Saturday.
“Basketball play. Refs got it right. Move on,” Reese told reporters after the humiliating loss.
A follow-up question was quickly shut down by a Sky PR.
The controversial Clark foul happened in the third quarter when Reese was knocked down to the floor.
The Sky forward quickly got back on her feet and charged towards Clark while yelling at her. They had to be separated as cooler heads prevailed.
The game officials upgraded Clark’s foul to Flagrant 1, the first of her career, after the review. Reese and Fever center Aliyah Boston, who prevented the Sky forward from laying her finger on Clark, were assessed with technical fouls.
Crew chief Roy Gulbeyan said in the WNBA official pool report that Clark’s foul met the criteria for a flagrant foul 1 for “windup, impact, and follow through for the extension of the left hand into Reese’s back, which is deemed not a legitimate basketball play.”
Caitlin Clark Insists It Wasn’t ‘Malicious Foul’
Clark downplayed the incident.
“Let’s not make it something that it’s not,” Clark told reporters after the win. “It was just a good play on the basketball. I’m not sure what the ref saw to upgrade it, and that’s up to their discretion.
“It’s a take foul to put them at the free throw line. I’ve watched a lot of basketball in my life. That’s exactly what it was. I wasn’t trying to do anything malicious. That’s not the type of player I am.”
Clark had the last laugh in her heated matchup with Reese with the lopsided win. She finished with a triple-double, delivering 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. She also added two steals and four blocks in a complete performance.
The Fever star made 6-of-13 shots, including going 4-for-8 from the 3-point line.
Reese grabbed 17 rebounds and scored 12 points, but she struggled from the field on 5-for-14 shooting.
Genesis of Clark-Reese Rivalry
Clark and Reese’s rivalry dates back to the 2023 NCAA tournament. Reese led LSU to beat Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the championship match.
Reese was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. But Clark upstaged her when she went No. 1 in the WNBA Draft. Reese was selected No. 7.
Clark beat Reese for the WNBA Rookie of the Year award after a historic season that drew record crowds in the Fever’s games.
