Caitlin Clark, Fever lament officiating late in loss to Liberty - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — The WNBA defending champion New York Liberty remained unbeaten Saturday at the expense of the Indiana Fever, who were not happy with the officiating over the final 10 seconds of the game

The Liberty won 90-88 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and had three officiating calls go their way to close out the tightly contested affair.

First, New York guard Natasha Cloud blocked a shot by Indiana's DeWanna Bonner on a play where it appeared there was contact on Bonner, but no foul was called.

Then Indiana's Lexie Hull was called for a foul on the Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu, whose two free throws provided the winning two-point margin. The Fever had a challenge available but could not use it to contest the call on Hull because they had no timeouts left.

The Fever still had a chance at a final shot, but Cloud knocked the ball away from Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who pleaded for a foul to no avail. Indiana coach Stephanie White seemed most bothered by the no-call on Bonner's shot attempt.

«I thought it was egregious, honestly. I thought it was obvious,» White said. She added of foul called on Hull, «It was an offensive player veering into the defensive player's path. We have to be able to play through it. But at the same time, I feel like it's really disrespectful.

»There's a system to making sure we can send [concerns about officiating] in and communicate our grievances, so to speak. I don't know that I ever feel like the system works. We're not looking for a change, we're just looking for consistency."

Clark said she had not seen a replay of the final sequence where she lost the ball vs. Cloud.

«I'd have to go back and watch.… I don't know,» she said.

But Clark said there was a lot the Fever could learn from their two losses