Caitlin Clark avoids suspension after eighth tech is rescinded
Less than two hours after the Indiana Fever’s 90-86 win over the Chicago Sky on Saturday, the WNBA rescinded Caitlin Clark’s eighth technical foul of the season, which would have warranted a one-game suspension on top of a $1500 fine. Rescinding the foul now makes Clark eligible to play against the New York Liberty on Tuesday.
Clark received her league-leading eighth technical foul in the third quarter of the game on Saturday. Sky guard Natasha Cloud bumped into Clark as she was dribbling past her, causing Clark to make light contact with an official.
After the game, crew chief Maj Forsberg said the official believed the contact was intentional and called the technical foul. Meanwhile, Clark said the contact was not intentional in a postgame interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
(The referee) said I ran into her. I’ve already watched it on the tape,” Clark said. “So, we’ll let the league decide, but it wasn’t intentional or anything.”
Stephanie White Says Officials Need to Have More Awareness
Fever coach Stephanie White also received a technical foul for her reaction to the call against Clark.
“My tech was for saying that’s [expletive], even though I heard the F-bomb the whole [expletive] game,” White said.
White told reporters after the game that officials often make bad calls due to lack of awareness. In this case, the official considered Clark’s contact intentional, while White viewed it as a result of the bump from Cloud.
“I thought her teammates should have come up and talked to her about that as well,” White said. “I think it’s really bad. That [expletive] happens all the time in a game. Officials have to have some awareness in those moments, and it didn’t happen.”
The Fever will face the Liberty with Clark at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
