'A basketball play': Reese disagrees with her foul of Clark - ESPN

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 1 foul after a video review.

But Reese seemed to take exception to the ruling. She described it as merely «a basketball play,» after the loss.

She continued, saying, «I can't control the refs. 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 in 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 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.»

For her part, 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