Caitlin Clark scores 23 in Fever win over Sky, Angel Reese challenges flagrant foul

The rivalry that WNBA fans were hoping to see between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese developed further on Sunday afternoon as the Indiana Fever defeated the Chicago Sky, 91-83, in a closely contested matchup.

Clark scored 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, and added eight rebounds and nine assists. She started well for the Fever, making her first three shots and scoring seven points in the first quarter. That matched her entire scoring total from Thursday’s win over the Atlanta Dream.

Angel Reese disagreed with a glaring error

Reese was called for a flagrant foul after hitting Clark in the head on a drive to the basket. That contributed to foul trouble that made Reese virtually a non-factor in the second half.

After the game, Reese disagreed that the foul was called egregious, saying it was a “basketball play” in which she tried to block Clark’s shot.

“Basketball game, I have no control over the referees,” she told reporters. “They obviously influenced the game enormously tonight.”

“I always go for the ball. But you’re going to play that clip, what, twenty times before Monday?” Reese added.

The Sky rookie went on to suggest that she and her teammates were treated differently by Sunday’s officiating crew.

“I think a lot of times we’ve been up a lot and we haven’t gotten a lot of calls,” Reese said. “When I watched the film, I saw that there were a lot of calls that weren’t made. I think some people got a special whistle.”

When asked about Reese’s mistake, Clark agreed that she was playing the ball and chose to focus on the two free throws she had to shoot.

“It’s just part of basketball,” she said. “It is what it is. Just trying to play the ball and get the block. It happens.”

Reese committed four fouls in the third quarter, halting the development of a good game for Reese, who led the Sky with nine points at halftime. She finished with 11 points, a team-high 13 rebounds and five assists.

Marina Mabrey led Chicago with 22 points, while Chennedy Carter followed with 18 and Dana Evans finished with 12. Kamilla Cardoso scored 10 and grabbed 10 boards, initially helping the Sky assert their offensive advantage over Indiana.

Aliyah Boston eventually won the match with Kamilla Cardoso

However, Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith took control in the second half. Boston in particular played a good two-player game with Clark as the game progressed, defeating former South Carolina teammate Cardoso in their individual matchup. Boston finished with 19 points, five blocks and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Fever, while Smith added 15 with seven rebounds.

Kelsey Mitchell was a key factor for Indiana at the end in the second half as Clark and Boston drew more defensive attention. She scored 17 points for the match. And Katie Lou Samuelson shot 3-for-4 from 3-point range, giving her nine points. The Fever also defeated the Sky 71-70 on June 1.

Sky is falling

Sunday’s loss to the Fever was the Sky’s fourth straight, dropping them to 4-9 on the season, now one game behind Indiana (5-10) in the Eastern Conference. After Friday’s loss to the Washington Mystics, Witherspoon was asked if she was considering a change to the starting lineup, but said she wasn’t thinking about it and ultimately left her press conference.

However, a new line-up took the floor on Sunday, Carter and Lindsay Allen took over for Evans and Diamond DeShields. The change seemed to suit Carter, but Allen scored only two points.

This is how Sunday afternoon’s matchup went: