For the second time in as many meetings between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky, Caitlin Clark was the recipient of a flagrant foul.
Unlike the previous instance, when Chennedy Carter’s foul was decidedly not a basketball play, the contact Sunday resulted from a poor block attempt from Angel Reese that whacked Clark upside the head. The referees adjudicated the foul as a flagrant in real time, 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
The play ended up being consequential not because it was elevated to a flagrant, but because it was the fourth foul on Reese in a competitive contest. Reese — who has yet to foul out in her WNBA career — picked up her fifth early in the fourth quarter — forcing her to the bench.
A day after the WNBA had a showcase for its best current rivalry between New York and Las Vegas, Indiana and Chicago are making a case to be the premier matchup of the future. The teams, led by three 2024 first-round draft picks, were separated by one point in their first game and have been within seven points of each other in Sunday’s contest.
Reese and Clark are continuing a competitive history against each other. Reese’s LSU beat Clark’s Iowa in the 2023 national championship, and the Hawkeyes got revenge in this season’s Elite Eight.
The Fever won 71-70 in their first meeting as pros on June 1. Reese and Clark have been the center of the attention this WNBA season.
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(Photo of Angel Reese: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
