New footage just dropped—and it changes everything. A never-before-seen angle clearly shows Jacy Sheldon of WNBA Connecticut Sun driving her knee directly into Caitlin Clark of WNBA Indiana Fever groin… while the referee stands right there, watching, and does absolutely nothing.
Watch: Caitlin Clark poked in eye by Jacy Sheldon, shoved by Marina Mabrey, sparking scuffles between Fever, Sun
Caitlin Clark and Jacy Sheldon have some bad blood.
And tensions escalated Tuesday night thanks to multiple run-ins in a physical game that resulted in repeated scuffles and ejections between Clark’s Indiana Fever and Sheldon’s Connecticut Sun. An eye-poke of Clark pushed things over the edge.
With the Fever leading 55-45 midway through the third quarter, Clark took possession of the ball over halfcourt. She dribbled over the 3-point line near the free-throw line with Sheldon guarding her closely. Both players initiated contact.
Sheldon reached up with her right hand and poked Clark in the eye, drawing a personal foul. Clark recoiled. Sheldon then bumped Clark, and Clark shoved her away. Then Connecticut’s Marina Mabrey approached Clark from behind and shoved her to the court.
The situation quickly de-escalated as Clark stood up from the ground. Officials then went to the monitor to suss things out.
Several minutes later, the verdict was in. Sheldon’s foul for swiping Clark in the face was elevated to a flagrant 1. Clark was issued a technical foul her response.
Connecticut’s Tina Charles, who rushed to approach Clark after Clark’s exchange with Sheldon, was also issued an offsetting technical foul. And Mabrey was issued a technical foul for shoving Clark to the court.
The result was one technical and two flagrant foul free throws for Clark and possession for the Fever. Clark hit all three free throws to extend the Fever lead to 58-45.
Nobody was ejected. Yet.
The incident wasn’t the first or the last between the two teams.
Tuesday’s Sun-Fever game got physical, especially around Caitlin Clark. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
How it started
During a dead ball early in the second quarter, Clark and Sheldon exchanged words while walking from the sideline. Clark shoved Sheldon, prompting a brief exchange of words among the players on the court.
No foul was called. But the incident set the tone for a physical game that ultimately boiled over in the third quarter and again in the fourth.
How it ended
With the Fever leading, 87-70 in the final minute, Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham committed a hard foul on Sheldon as Sheldon attempted a breakaway layup. Cunningham grabbed Sheldon as Sheldon approached the basket, and Sheldon fell to the ground.
This time, another, more physical scuffle ensued. As did multiple ejections.
After going to the monitor, officials issued Cunningham a flagrant 2 penalty that came with an automatic ejection. Sheldon was issued a technical foul and ejected for fighting. As was Connecticut’s Lindsay Allen.
Players from each team hit a free throw, and the game mercifully ended seconds later with the Fever securing an 88-71 win. With the victory, the Fever secured their spot representing the Eastern Conference in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game. They’ll face the Minnesota Lynx in the title game on July 1.
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Fever coach: Officials have to ‘be better’
After the game, Fever head coach Stephanie White shared her thoughts about the officiating when Clark was asked about the technical foul she received after getting poked in the eye and shoved to the ground.
“There wasn’t an explanation for the tech that she got,” White said, taking over the question that was asked of Clark. “I think that it was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing. When the officials don’t get control of the ballgame, when they allow that stuff to happen.
“And it’s been happening all season long. 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 gonna compete. And they’re gonna have their teammates’ backs.”
White then implored the officials to “be better.”
“I started talking to the officials in the first quarter. We knew this was gonna happen. You could tell it was gonna happen.
“They’ve got to get control of it, and they’ve got to be better. They’ve got to be better.”
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