Caitlin Clark DESTROYS Angel Reese! Serena Williams Says: “Keep SHINING And DOMINATE!”
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‘A basketball play’: Reese disagrees with her foul on Clark
INDIANAPOLIS — The second WNBA installment of Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese made as many headlines as the first.
Clark’s Indiana Fever defeated Reese’s Chicago Sky 88-83 on Sunday in a game that will be marked by the flagrant foul Reese committed against her college rival. Reese, the former LSU star who has been inextricably linked to former Iowa star Clark since their much-hyped matchup in the 2023 women’s Final Four, delivered a hard blow to Clark’s head as Clark drove to the basket in the third quarter. Officials upgraded the call to a flagrant foul 1 after a video review.
But Reese seemed to take exception to the ruling, describing it as merely “a basketball play” after the loss.
“I can’t control the refs,” she said. “They affected the game a lot tonight. … I’m always going for the ball. But y’all going to play that clip 20 times before Monday.”
Reese, who was called for five fouls, was visibly frustrated at times during the game. She was assessed a delay-of-game warning at one point in the fourth quarter after a prolonged argument with officials.
Asked about the physical play in the paint, where she was called for most of her fouls, Reese again turned her criticism toward the officiating.
“I think we went up really strong a lot of times and we didn’t get a lot of calls,” she said of herself and center Kamilla Cardoso. “And going back and looking at the film, I’ve seen a lot of calls that weren’t made. I guess some people got a special whistle.”
Clark had a similar reaction to the flagrant foul as Reese, saying, “It’s just part of basketball. It is what it is. Trying to make a play on the ball, get the block. I mean, it happens.”
The foul came on the heels of a much-debated play in the first meeting between these teams on June 1, when Sky guard Chennedy Carter forcefully knocked Clark to the ground in a foul committed before the Fever had inbounded the ball. There was continued discussion about the foul in the days that followed, and WNBA officials subsequently upgraded the foul to a flagrant 1 the day after the game. Clark said during an in-game interview that day that the foul was “not a basketball play.”
Clearly, Carter’s foul was not forgotten by Sunday’s game. Fever coach Christie Sides made a not-so-veiled reference to it when addressing how Reese’s foul was handled.
“The right call was made in that moment — flagrant 1,” Sides said. “Just make the right call in those moments and we can move forward. But when you don’t make the right call in those moments, that’s when there’s a problem. And they made the right call tonight.”
After Reese’s foul Sunday, Clark made both of her free throws for two of her game-high 23
points. Clark added eight rebounds and nine assists in what was one of her best all-around performances of the season.
Clark has been on an up-and-down stretch of games, scoring in single digits in two of her previous four. That included a 3-for-11 shooting night in Thursday night’s win over the Atlanta Dream. Meanwhile, Reese grabbed 13 rebounds, one off the career high she set Friday night against Washington.
Potential for more drama awaits next Sunday, when the teams meet for the third time this season, the first in Chicago.
Each matchup between Clark and Reese so far has been a huge draw, with both games sold out (more than 17,000 in attendance) and played before national television audiences.
“I think it’s just the emotion and the passion that we play with,” Clark said. “I think people love to see that. And I think that’s maybe not something that was always appreciated in women’s sports, and it should be. I think that’s what makes it fun. We’re competitors. That’s the way the game should be. It’s going to get a little feisty. It’s going to get physical. But at the end of the day, both teams are just trying to win.”
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Angel Reese leads Sky to 88-87 win over Fever despite Caitlin Clark’s franchise-record 13 assists
CHICAGO — — Angel Reese scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to help the Chicago Sky beat Indiana 88-87 despite 17 points and a franchise-record 13 assists for the Fever’s Caitlin Clark on Sunday.
Reese has posted a double-double in eight consecutive games, extending her WNBA rookie record. She is the first rookie since A’ja Wilson with 25-plus points and 15-plus rebounds in a single game. She joins Wilson as the only players in the WNBA this season with multiple games with at least 15 points and 15 rebounds.
It was the hottest ticket in nearly the past decade according to Vivid Seats with entry to the game going for $351 dollars on average. Reese, Clark and the two teams didn’t disappoint.
Clark played every minute and finished 5-of-11 shooting, 5 of 9 from 3, with six rebounds, four steals and five turnovers.
Chicago (6-9) trailed 82-70 with 6:38 left before Reese got going. She had 10 points and five rebounds from there to fuel the Sky’s comeback.
She grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled as she made the putback and hit the free throw to make it 82-all with 3 minutes to go.
Kelsey Mitchell responded with a layup before Chennedy Carter tied it with a running floater with 2:30 remaining. Reese scored inside to give the Sky a two-point lead before Carter and Camilla Cardoso each hit 1 of 2 from the foul line to make it 88-84 with 27 seconds to play.
Aliyah Boston hit a contested 3 with 19 left before Marina Mabrey missed two free throws and Clark secured the loose-ball rebound but the Fever missed two shots in the closing seconds.
Mitchell scored 24 points to lead the Fever. Boston had 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists and NaLyssa Smith scored 12 points.
Chicago, which beat the Dallas Wings 83-72 on Thursday, has won back-to-back games following a four-game skid.
Indiana (7-11) had its four-game win streak snapped.
The Fever had won the previous two matchups — both in Indianapolis — between the teams this season.
Clark and Iowa lost to Reese and LSU in the 2023 national championship game and avenged that loss in the 2024 national semifinals before losing to Cardoso and South Carolina in the title game.
Rapper and Chicago-native Chance the Rapper, as well as actor/comedian Jason Sudekis, sat courtside.
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Source: Tampa Bay Times
