Fever advance to Commissioner’s Cup Final after physical win, outspoken postgame press conference
Indiana outlasts Connecticut, gets help from New York to clinch spot in Cup finals; Head coach Stephanie White speaks up on officiating. "Everybody's getting better, except the officials."
The Indiana Fever advanced to the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game after handling the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night — and with a little help from New York.
The Fever, the top seed from the Eastern Conference, will face the Minnesota Lynx on July 1 with an in-season title and a $500,000 prize pool on the line. This is the fifth year of the Commissioner’s Cup.
The team was tracking New York’s win over Atlanta from the bench, but most found out afterward when the team celebrated in the locker room. Indiana has now won four of its last five — following a three-game skid — despite never having a full roster.
“Obviously we're excited,” Caitlin Clark said after scoring 20 points in victory. “That's a big deal. And obviously New York helped us out a little bit to get there and it's a hard thing to do. Why wouldn't we celebrate that? We're getting to play for a pool of money. That's pretty fun. And you're competing to win a trophy.”
There were several other instances of fireworks Tuesday night, more than their postgame locker room celebration.
The game was physical from the opening tip. These teams don’t like each other, and they didn’t try to hide it.
It began with Jacy Sheldon (Ohio State) pressing Clark (Iowa) full court and staying physical with her all game. Then midway through the third quarter, Clark was hit by Sheldon in the eye as she tried to dribble around her at the foul line. Sheldon then stepped up to Clark, who wasn’t having it.
Then, the sequence was escalated when veteran Tina Charles shared what was on her mind, then Marina Mabrey came in and body-checked Clark to the ground.
After a nearly 10-minute review, Sheldon’s foul was upgraded to a flagrant 1. Mabrey, Charles, and Clark were assessed technical fouls.
“Honestly, the review took too long for me,” said Clark, who was signaling to the officials to hurry up on their decision. “I wanted to get playing basketball again, and that's exactly what I did in the rest of the third quarter.”
When Clark was asked about her technical to begin the presser, Fever head coach Stephanie White interjected.
“I'll take the official questions,” she said after the 88-71 Fever win. And as the leader of the team, she publicly expressed feelings they’ve felt for quite a while.
White spoke up not just for Clark and the rest of the Fever, but the entire league too.
“There wasn't an explanation for the tech that she got,” she said. “I think it was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing. 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. All season long. It's not just this game. It's been happening all season long.
“This is what happens. You've got competitive women who are the best in the world at what they do, and when you allow them to play physical and you allow these things to happen, they're going to compete, and they're going to have their teammates' backs. It's exactly what you expect out of fierce competition.
“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.”
Late in the fourth quarter, with Indiana up 17, Sophie Cunningham was ejected after committing a flagrant 2 — wrapping up Sheldon around the neck on a transition play. Sheldon and Lindsay Allen were also ejected for fighting.
The physical play, choppy officiating, and repeated flare-ups distracted from what was a dominant win by the Fever. That was important because they’re coming off their biggest win of the season over the weekend, handing the Liberty — the WNBA’s last unbeaten — their first loss of the season.
The win also gave them the opportunity to advance for the Commissioner’s Cup. The Fever won all four quarters, and by as many as 21 points in a 17-point win. The Fever, who’ve now won four of their last five games, prevented a letdown from happening.
“We focused on ourselves in the past two practices, and at the end of the day, we knew what Connecticut was going to do in this game, but we executed this on both ends of the floor,” said Natasha Howard, who contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds. “But I'm proud of what we did and how we handled our own out there.”
This is the second time White has been compelled to speak up for her team in a postgame press conference — the first came after a two-point loss to the Liberty almost one month ago. She was fined by the league.
White emphasized the need for the officials to consistently call the fouls that are happening on the floor. If they don’t, this will continue to happen.
“I've seen quite a few dust-ups in the league so far, so I think it's a league-wide issue,” she said. “I mean, bad officiating is bad officiating.”
I encourage you watch the entire postgame press conference above and take notice of Clark’s facial reactions. At this point, she was nodding her head in agreement.
White continued (as GM Amber Cox watched from the back of the interview room).
“Their job is hard,” she said, referring to officials.
“Their job is hard,” she said, pointing her thumbs to both Clark and Howard beside her at the press conference.
“The game has changed so much. Players are faster. They're better. They're bigger. They're stronger. They're as good as they've ever been. They're as athletic as they've ever been. The game is fast now. Things are happening quickly.
“Everybody's getting better, except the officials.
“So we've got to find a way to remedy it. I mean, you've heard every coach talk about it. So I don't know what the answer is.”
After the incident in the third quarter, Fever fans booed Mabrey and Sheldon whenever they touched the ball — a clear show of support for Clark and frustration with what they saw as targeted cheap shots.
With 3:24 remaining and the game well in hand, White subbed out Clark and Aliyah Boston. Just 30 seconds earlier, Clark had hit a 28-foot 3-pointer, then stared down the Sun bench. Her competitive side was still on display and despite them knocking her down, she stood right back up and helped the Fever to a punishing performance.
Once the timeout was called, she roamed around the court and was firing up the crowd. She had to be get wrangled in by assistant coach Karima Christmas, but this was a 23-year-old competitor not letting anyone get to her.
“I've got to give our crowd a lot of credit, too,” Clark added. “I thought they were tremendous. They were cheering for us. They had our back.
“And I'm a passionate player, but at the end of the day, I'm here to play basketball, and that's what it is. My game's going to talk, and that's all that really matters. And I love this game, and I'm going to give it everything I have. So I think that's what competitors do. You just step right back up to the challenge.”
The Fever have to quickly turn the page with Wednesday being a travel day out west. As Clark was quick to remind White next to her, this was the start of a grueling stretch with six games in 11 days — with three games out west, a return trip home for one game, then over to Dallas for a showcase game.
“I think our focus, though, turns now to this West Coast swing in three games and how are we going to continue to stack getting better and better and better,” Clark said. “We put two good games together, but we can't take a step back. So I think it's going to be continuing to find a way to get better on our West Coast trip as well.”
Up next: a first-ever visit to San Francisco to face the Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s newest expansion team.
Postgame Pool Report
When significant events occur involving officiating, reporters covering the game can request a pool report. One reporter, Chloe Peterson of the Indy Star in this instance, asks questions of the crew chief for the game to gain clarity on certain key calls.
The full conversation is below.
Why was Jacy Sheldon's foul upgraded to a flagrant 1?
In the judgement of the officials, the foul by Sheldon was unnecessary, the contact to (Caitlin) Clark’s face. Furthermore, there was wind up and impact, and the contact to the face carries a potential for injury.
What went into deciding Marina Mabrey should get a technical instead of something more severe, like an ejection?
The contact made by Mabrey did not rise to the level of an ejection. Additionally, (it) did not meet the criteria for a flagrant foul penalty two.
Why did Caitlin Clark get a technical foul?
After the foul by Sheldon, Clark reacted in an unsportsmanlike manner towards Sheldon.
Why did Tina Charles get a technical foul?
Tina runs towards Clark in an unsportsmanlike manner and taunts her.
In the fourth quarter, why was Sophie Cunningham's foul upgraded to a flagrant 2?
We felt that that contact by Cunningham was unnecessary and excessive.
Why did Jacy Sheldon and Lindsay Allen get assessed technicals for fighting?
The altercation that occurred after the foul by Sophie, we ruled it as a fight. Sheldon and Lindsay Allen were both escalators in that altercation and therefore they were ejected for fighting.
I do agree Cunninham's foul was flagrant. But if she hadn't grabbed her, do you think they would have called an offensive foul? Sheldon was totally initiating the contact and with force.